(New York) New York justice is investigating Thursday the death of a known homeless man in the city, after an altercation on 1er May in the subway with passengers, one of whom would have strangled him, a news item filmed and which shocks the New York left.
Jordan Neely, 30, who gained notoriety by impersonating music legend Michael Jackson (1958-2009) on the street, was the victim of a “homicide” by “squeezing” his neck, said New York forensic medicine told AFP.
Alerted by passengers and by a video on social networks of an incident in the metro, the police had noted on Monday afternoon that a thirty-year-old African-American had lost “consciousness”.
Taken to hospital, he died there shortly after, according to an email from law enforcement.
The five-minute video, obtained by AFP, shows the victim on the ground in a subway car, with another man – a 24-year-old Marine Corps soldier according to media reports – lying behind him to shackle and squeeze his upper body.
Other passengers standing above the two men look taken aback.
A witness told AFP that Mr. Neely had burst into the car, shouting at passengers and asking them for something to eat or drink.
Police briefly questioned the choke hold suspect and it is up to the New York State Attorney’s Office for the Borough of Manhattan to decide whether to prosecute criminally.
“As part of our ongoing rigorous investigation, we will review the forensics report, all available photos and videos, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible,” a prosecutor’s office spokesperson said in an email Thursday. .
Mr. Neely imitated Michael Jackson in the streets of midtown Manhattan, where he lived, and had been arrested dozens of times, notably for noise on the public highway, according to the press.
In a megalopolis of 8.5 million inhabitants with abysmal socio-economic inequalities and which does not know what to do with tens of thousands of itinerant people often suffering from psychiatric disorders, the left has stepped up to the plate.
The Democratic Congresswoman for New York in the House of Representatives in Washington, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, wrote on Twitter that Mr. Neely had been the victim of “murder”.
New York City Council President Adrienne Adams denounced in a statement “the ‘double standards’ faced by racialized people”.
More to the right in the Democratic Party, tough New York City Mayor Eric Adams, also African-American and a former police captain, told CNN that “any loss of life is tragic” but that “many elements of this happened remain unknown”.
Dave Giffen, of the Coalition for the Homeless, denounced “the indifference of the municipality for the lives of homeless people who have psychiatric disorders”.
Rallies are planned in New York on Thursday evening, Friday and Saturday to push Manhattan prosecutors to prosecute the alleged perpetrator.