Jordan Neely’s killing on the subway is sparking discussions on mental health care for people without housing

A man put Jordan Neely — a 30-year-old New York street busker — in a fatal chokehold Monday as they rode the subway. The city’s medical examiner ruled the death a homicide Wednesday evening.

The situation has sparked discussions and protests surrounding mental health care for people without housing, as well as policing and social welfare priorities, bystander intervention, race, and discourse about the unhoused population.

Neely, known locally for his Michael Jackson impersonation act over the years, was “screaming and behaving erratically” on the F train in Manhattan, according to witness accounts and a video taken by freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez. There is no allegation that he was violent toward anyone.

That’s when a man, described in media reports as a 24-year-old former Marine, placed Neely in a headlock. Vazquez wrote that the man, who has not been publicly identified, grabbed Neely by the neck and “laid him on the floor as he tied him with his legs.” He said the man held Neely in that position for “about 15 minutes,” with two other men also restraining Neely. The video shows them holding Neely down in a chokehold for about three minutes as his body appears to go limp. Passengers can be heard in the background calling the police.

By the time the train pulled into the Broadway-Lafayette station, Neely had lost consciousness. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

Neely was best recognized as a Michael Jackson impersonator who would dance on subway trains and in Times Square. Over the years, he struggled with his mental health and was experiencing homelessness, according to multiple outlets and family members.

Old videos of Neely show him in MJ-style military jackets, chunky white socks, and loafers, dancing to songs like “Billie Jean” — moonwalking and all — in subway cars.

A family friend told the New York Daily News that performing helped give the 30-year-old confidence and helped him cope with his mental health issues.

Neely’s father told the Daily News that Neely’s fascination with Jackson started after he showed him a video of the Jackson 5 on TV.

He was 14 years old when his mother, Christie Neely, 36, was killed by an ex-boyfriend, and Neely testified at the New Jersey trial.

“It had a big impact on him,” his aunt Carolyn Neely told the New York Post. “He developed depression and it grew and became more serious. He was schizophrenic, PTSD. Doctors knew his condition and he needed to be treated for that.”

She added, “The whole system just failed him. He fell through the cracks of the system.”

Minister Ray Tarvin told the Guardian that he knew Neely as someone in need.

“He was a nice person, not aggressive or violent,” he said. “Everyone who knew him knows that.”

Mark Levine, the Manhattan borough president, tweeted that he saw Neely perform several times on the A train.

“Our broken mental health system failed him,” he wrote. “He deserved help, not to die in a chokehold on the floor of the subway.”

The man was taken into custody for police questioning, but released without charges. The New York Daily News first reported that he is a Marine Corps veteran. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office is investigating.

The medical examiner’s office told the Washington Post that Neely’s death was considered a homicide, caused by “compression of neck” by a chokehold.

Authorities have not said why the man was released without charges, or whether the homicide ruling could change that.

Some are asking why the man who put Neely in a chokehold hasn’t been charged with murder.

Homicide is the manner of death determined by the medical examiner. Murder and manslaughter are legal charges filed by prosecutors.

According to legal experts, homicide is the killing of one person by another but isn’t always considered a crime.

Murder is a homicide where a person intentionally kills another person without legal justification. Manslaughter is a form of homicide in which the person unlawfully but unintentionally causes a death.

At the Broadway-Lafayette subway station this week, “WHO KILLED JORDAN NEELY” was written across a tiled wall.

On Wednesday, dozens of protesters gathered on the platform and throughout the nearby neighborhood. They chanted Neely’s name and laid flowers on the pavement.

Some of Neely’s last words, which according to Vazquez were, “I don’t have food, I don’t have a drink, I’m fed up,” have become a sticking point. “I don’t mind going to jail and getting life in prison. I’m ready to die.”

As noted by the Guardian, critics say the lack of charges and release of the man who choked Neely appear to endorse a vigilante response to homelessness and mental health crises. Critics have also pointed out that the 24-year-old is white, while Neely was Black, and have asked if the response would have been the same if the roles were reversed.

“This was a horrible lynching — the murder of someone needing help,” protester Shifa Rahman told the Guardian. “He was at a point of desperation and a citizen, acting in racial bias, acted to suppress that.”

» READ MORE: Jordan Neely, Tucker Carlson, and ‘rooting for the mob’ as America unravels

King James, who was on the same subway ride as Neely but in a different car, told the Guardian that the length of time the man held Neely in a headlock was troubling.

Neely “had no chance of defending himself,” he said. “This is not a one-time thing — numerous things happen on the subway. This is where the mental-health patients are.”

Others have defended the 24-year-old, noting that he asked other subway passengers to call 911.

On social media, public figures and city officials weighed in.

“NYC is not Gotham,” New York comptroller Brad Lander tweeted. “We must not become a city where a mentally ill human being can be choked to death by a vigilante without consequence, or where the killer is justified & cheered.”

Rev. Al Sharpton called for the district attorney’s office to investigate the death as a potential manslaughter case.

“Jordan Neely was murdered,” wrote U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.). “But because 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.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul initially said of the attack, “People who are homeless in our subways, many of them in the throes of mental health episodes, and that’s what I believe were some of the factors involved here. There’s consequences for behavior.”

When asked again Thursday, she added, that the response was “extreme” and expressed sympathy for Neely’s family.

“His family deserves justice,” she said. “This was an unarmed individual who had been on the subway many times, known by many of the regular travelers. And you know, sometimes people have an episode where they’re displaying their feelings in a loud and emotional way. But it became very clear that, you know, he was not going to cause harm to these other people.”

Criticism is also circulating about how the media has covered Neely’s death. Some say Neely has been demonized and news outlets have used language that does not directly tie the chokehold to his death.

Others are upset no one intervened.

The situation unfolded in a city where crime and housing have become major political issues. In November, Mayor Eric Adams faced backlash for dismantling homeless encampments and launching a program that could involuntarily hospitalize unhoused people battling mental illness.

» READ MORE: NYC will involuntarily hospitalize people experiencing homelessness and mental illness

In a statement, Adams referenced Neely’s mental health issues and pointed to his administration’s “record investments in providing care to those who need it.”

He added, “Any loss of life is tragic … There’s a lot we don’t know about what happened here, so I’m going to refrain from commenting further.”