Navy veteran Daniel Penny celebrates his recent acquittal for manslaughter in a historic college football game.
Penny, who was recently found not guilty in the subway death of homeless Jordan Neely, joined President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance in a suite at Northwest Stadium in Maryland for the 125th Army-Navy game Saturday. Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard and House Speaker Mike Johnson were also present in Trump’s suite.
Photos of Penny posing next to Trump and Vance in the suite went viral during the game.
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Several social media users responded with words of praise for Penny, calling the Navy veteran a hero.
Cryptocurrency influencer Tiffany Fong shared the photo and praised Penny as a hero in a post on X.
“Donald Trump (and) JD Vance know Daniel Penny is a hero,” Fong wrote.
Conservative X influencer and podcast host Nick Sortor called for Penny to be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and dozens of others agreed with him in X comments.
“Daniel Penny received a HERO WELCOME from President Trump and JD Vance at the Army Navy game. Well deserved!” Sortor wrote. “I really hope Trump will give Penny the Presidential Medal of Freedom.”
Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., shared the photo with the caption: “Common sense rules again!”
Author Ashley St. Clair shared the photo with a caption suggesting that Penny was on trial for being a white man. Penny’s stranglehold of Neely, who was black, sparked a national conversation about race.
“The days of vitriol and persecution of white men simply for being white men are over,” St. Clair wrote.
During Penny’s trial, prosecutors routinely referred to the Navy veteran as “the white man.”
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Penny was charged with manslaughter and negligent homicide for the subway chokehold death of Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia who stormed onto the train on May 1, 2023, shouting death threats.
Witnesses stated that Neely’s threats frightened them more than a typical subway outburst, and they were grateful for Penny’s intervention.
Neely had a long time criminal recordan active arrest warrant, a history of psychosis and was high on K2, a synthetic form of marijuana that pathologists described as a stimulant.
Daniel Penny arrives at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on December 3, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
When jurors declared on December 9 that they had found Penny not guilty of negligent homicide, his side of the New York City courtroom erupted with cheers. At the same time, the verdict sparked an angry reaction from Neely’s side, including his father, Andre Zachary, who was escorted from the courthouse along with several Black Lives Matter leaders.
Penny thanked the jurors for their verdict in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday.
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“I would like to give them a hug. I would like to thank them. Yes, definitely. It takes a lot of courage, especially in this climate in New York City, to stand up for me,” he said. Five” co-host judge Jeanine Pirro in a preview Wednesday during an exclusive interview airing on Fox Nation.
The Navy veteran said if he faced the same situation on the subway, with someone making threats and behaving erratically, he would take action again.
“I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do anything in that situation and someone got hurt,” he said. “I would feel guilty for the rest of my life.”
Daniel Penny arrives at the Manhattan Supreme Court on November 18, 2024 in New York, NY. (Adam Gray for Fox News Digital)
Vance was one of the first politicians to express support for Penny in the wake of the verdict, saying he invited Penny to the suite on Saturday.
“Daniel is a good guy, and the New York District Attorney tried to ruin his life because he had a backbone,” Vance wrote on X Friday. “I am grateful that he accepted my invitation and I hope he can have fun and appreciate how much his fellow citizens admire his courage.”
Penny is still facing a lawsuit from Zachery, who accuses the 26-year-old of causing his son’s death through “negligence, carelessness and recklessness.” Zachery is seeking unspecified damages for assault and battery, according to a copy of the complaint.
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