Daniel Penny will join Trump's suite at football game

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Daniel Penny, a military veteran who choked an agitated New York subway rider and was acquitted of homicide this week, has been invited by Vice President-elect JD Vance to join Donald Trump's suite at the Army-Navy football game on Saturday.

The Marine veteran was cleared of criminally negligent homicide in Jordan Neely ’s 2023 death. A more serious manslaughter charge was dismissed last week.

Vance said Penny, 26, accepted his invitation.

“Daniel’s a good guy, and New York’s mob district attorney tried to ruin his life for having a backbone,” Vance said in a post on X. “I’m grateful he accepted my invitation and hope he’s able to have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.”

Vance, who served in the Marine Corps, including in Iraq, said this week that "justice was done in this case” and Penny never should have been prosecuted.

Penny has been hailed a hero by many, but Neely's death also divided the city as residents grapple with how to respond to mental health crises threatening public safety.

Passengers said Neely hadn’t touched anyone but had expressed willingness to die, go to jail or even to kill. The former street performer was homeless, had schizophrenia and had synthetic marijuana in his system. He had been convicted of assaulting people at subway stations.