Jordan Neely homicide | Defense fund for Daniel Penny swells to 10 times the funeral costs raised for man he choked

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The fundraiser for Jordan Neely’s funeral is just a fraction of the money raised for the legal defense of the man accused of choking him to death, Daniel Penny, earlier this month.

Neely, a homeless Michael Jackson impersonator, died on May 1 after Penny, a former Marine, placed him in a chokehold during a confrontation on board an F train in Lower Manhattan; the violent incident was captured on video and quickly went viral. Penny, however, was not immediately charged after the choke, and some proclaimed him a hero because he allegedly put the chokehold on after Neely reportedly became disruptive.

In the wake of Penny’s arrest Friday on first-degree manslaughter, his attorneys Raiser & Kenniff, P.C. — with help from right-wing politicians and social media personalities — have raised $1.6 million for his legal defense as of Sunday morning, May 14. By contrast, a fundraiser organized by Jordan Neely’s aunt, Carolyn Neely, to pay for her nephew’s funeral and burial has failed to match Penny’s defense, and has reached just $105,258.