Bobby Burack
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Jordan Neely lost his life after being restrained by other passengers on a New York subway where he was yelling at and threatening passengers.
A 24-year-old Marine veteran put Neely in a chokehold trying to restrain him. Neely lost consciousness during the incident and died at a hospital later that night.
A New York medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a “homicide.”
A homicide, however, is not to be confused with a”murder.” A homicide describes the killing of one person by another. A murder describes a specific legal term that a court must rule.
As of now, Neely’s death is a homicide. The incident has not been ruled a murder. Nor has the former Marine been charged.
And yet Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has declared otherwise. Wednesday, she tagged the incident a “murder” when speaking to her 13.4 million Twitter followers.
“Jordan Neely was murdered,” she tweeted about a New York Times link. “But bc Jordan was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services to militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor, the murderer gets protected w/ passive headlines + no charges. It’s disgusting.”
Jordan Neely was murdered.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2023
But bc Jordan was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services to militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor, the murderer gets protected w/ passive headlines + no charges.
It’s disgusting. https://t.co/YJeQp9bbgE
The congresswoman’s tweet is inaccurate. It’s also reckless. It’s ominous.
She asks The Times to falsely label the Marine a murderer, a crime with which has not been charged. She hopes to change the narrative, influence the response, and incite a stronger reaction.
But unlike most of her targets, the Marine does not have a following to respond. He’s a private citizen. And according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, he is not under protection.
Yet here’s an influential member of Congress telling her oft-passionate followers the man is the murderer and is getting away with it.
Ocasio-Cortez demonstrated a disregard for the legal process by declaring someone who may never be charged an offender of our most heinous crime.
At the least, AOC increased detestation for the man and the city. At the most, she put a target on his back.
She’s taking advantage of a volatile situation.
Already, social media users have sought to racialize the matter. Neely is black and the Marine is white. Thus, rabble-rousers attribute the death to white supremacy.
Some of said posts have garnered thousands of retweets as the word “murdered” still trends following AOC’s tweet:
Her intentions are obscure.
Is AOC trying to further stoke the race war? Is she trying to disparage New York law enforcement? Or is she merely looking to gain political advantage on the heels of a dead man?
Because she’s certainly not improving a hostile matter. Instead, she’s inciting hate.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet is an abuse of her status. Elected officials have a responsibility that does not include stoking unjust disdain for a private citizen still part of an ongoing investigation.
Even Democrat Mayor Eric Adams took issue with Ocasio-Cortez’s rushed proclamation:
“I don’t think that’s very responsible at the time where we are still investigating the situation,” Adams told CNN of her tweet on Wednesday.
“Let’s let the DA conduct his investigation with the law enforcement officials. To really interfere with that is not the right thing to do.”
AOC misinformed her followers. She purported that a man murdered another because the former was aching for food, of which there’s no proof.
She sought to convince voters that the city, state, and Marine are endangering civilians. Of course, there’s no evidence of that.
Rather, AOC was the one who endangered the participants of the incident. She unjustly put a target on the backs of a former Marine and subway goers who, by all accounts, tried to restrain a man threatening other onboard passengers.
Perhaps the Marine is a hero. A hero whom an opportunistic politician used her immense reach to malign.
that is the NYC that I grew up in, when citizens helped each other and were not afriad to do the right thing. The loss of life is most times sad but sometimes it can’t be avoided. The former Marine’s identity should be protected and he should be hailed as a hero, if more people step up like that I am sure crime and overall violence would go down, but most people are afraid to get involved now a days.
In the military we take an oath to protect, that does not just mean when we are in a foreign land or on active duty, it is forever, and that is what he did!
“Houseless and crying for food.” What universe does this woman live in?
She’s a disgrace. That marine is a hero who is being vilified by the left. This will result in less people getting involved in situations like this. Certainly in blue cities.
She’s a COMMUNIST B**CH!!!!! He very clearly posed a threat on the train, Semper Fi Marine. From what I read Neely had a lot of MENTAL Health issues and numerous run ins with Police for a few years, sometimes wanting help other times not. It’s a sad situation regardless, TRUST ME if were the cops in NYC I’d be leaving for BETTER departments in areas where they’re appreciated. Neely was off his meds no doubt, the Marine Vet acted on instinct to protect others on the train, that shouldn’t even be counted as a Homicide. Can you imagine what would of happened if the Marine sat back and did NOTHING? Sure Neely would still be alive but would he have killed a passenger? Or seriously hurt someone? AOC and ALL THE DEMONRATS(Democrats) csn go to HE**