New York subway chokehold death was a societal failure
MSNBCMay 04, 2023
On Wednesday, New York City’s medical examiner announced that the death of Jordan Neely, a man who had been shouting at people on a subway train Monday, was a homicide. Neely died from compression of his neck after a fellow rider put him in a lengthy chokehold.
A spokesperson for Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said police and prosecutors are investigating the incident, which happened on an F train in Manhattan. A video appeared to show Neely’s head and neck being held for several minutes until the homeless man’s body went limp.
Tragedies like this are a result of policies that dehumanize homeless people across the country, creating an environment where people feel entitled to not only mistreat them but to use a potentially lethal hold on someone suffering an obvious mental crisis. Our society needs more compassionate policies to avoid future incidents like this.
This is a tragic result of liberal cities' soft-on-crime policies that allow crime to run rampant, forcing average citizens to intervene. If cities were tougher on crime and police forces were better supported, citizens would be protected, and these types of incidents could be avoided.
There's a 2% chance that a large American city will fully abolish its police department before 2035, according to the Metaculus prediction community.