Libertarian journalist details the 'growing bloodlust among right-wing pundits and politicians'

25 May 2023

In an article published by The Bulwark on May 19, libertarian/conservative journalist Cathy Young took an in-depth look at the Daniel Penny case in New York City. Penny is the 24-year-old U.S. Marines veteran who is facing second-degree manslaughter charges following the death of Jordan Neely, a homeless man he placed in a chokehold on a New York City subway train. Neely, who suffered from mental illness, was reportedly behaving in a threatening manner; two other passengers on the F Train helped Penny restrain him.

Young offered scathing criticism of both the left and the right in her article, which was around 3500 words. The journalist was highly critical of progressive politicians who were quick to label Penny a racist murderer, but she also slammed right-wing pundits she believed were taking pleasure in Neely's death.

Young wrote, "Right-wing and left-wing media have offered equally discordant narratives: Penny is either a hero who is being hounded by leftist activists and by a 'woke' prosecutor for defending himself and others, or he is a murderer excused because the victim was a homeless, mentally ill Black man who made people uncomfortable by complaining about being hungry."

Journalist Bill Lueders examines the Neely/Penny case in a separate Bulwark article, and like Young, he finds it deeply disturbing that so many people in the right-wing media are celebrating Neely's death. But Lueders' article, published on May 25, discusses other cases as well — including Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's desire to pardon Daniel Perry, the U.S. Army sergeant who was sentenced to 25 years in prison after shooting and killing Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster in Austin, Texas.

Lueders cites MAGA reactions to these cases as examples of the far right celebrating violence.

"Last Friday in The Bulwark," Lueders explains, "Cathy Young presented a compelling argument that Daniel Penny's case is not as simple as some pontificators on the right and left seem to think. Jordan Neely, who in 2021, randomly punched a 67-year-old woman in the face as she was leaving a subway station, among other past violent acts, and who was saying things like 'I’m ready to die' and 'I would kill a mother*****,' did pose a potentially real threat to passengers."

Lueders continues, "Moreover, there is no evidence that Penny acted out of racial animus or even a desire to kill…. But the fact that Daniel Penny is being praised for unleashing righteous violence is still deeply troubling, as is the support that is flooding in for the almost identically named Daniel Perry."

These cases and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' desire to expand the death penalty to crimes other than murder, Lueders warns, underscore the "growing bloodlust among right-wing pundits and politicians."

Lueders writes, "That Penny's decision to put Neely in a chokehold for so long that it killed him is being cheered on by people who long for opportunities to administer lethal retribution — and who believe that the election of Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis may bring the glory days where this can be exacted on the notice of a 'second' — should frighten us all."

Bill Lueders' full article for The Bulwark is available at this link.

From Your Site Articles