Jordan Neely, the unhoused, Michael Jackson impersonator who was choked to death aboard an F train earlier this month, was laid to rest on Friday following a Harlem funeral service that condemned vigilantism and pushed for more resources for the homeless.
The killing of Neely was yet another spark that blew the lid off the cultural and political divide in America after a video of a white, former marine was seen clinging to the neck of a homeless black man inside of the Broadway-Lafayette station on May 1. The following days saw a slew of bloody protests until Daniel Penny, Neely’s alleged killer, was charged with second-degree manslaughter.