Sen. Cruz: Penny Should Sue for 'Malicious Prosecution'

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is urging Daniel Penny to file a lawsuit against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg after the 26-year-old Marine veteran was acquitted on Monday in the New York City subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely.

"Alvin Bragg is an absolute catastrophe," Cruz said in a statement obtained by the Daily Caller. "First, he indicted Donald Trump in a partisan case, and then he indicted Daniel Penny for saving the lives of other subway passengers from a deranged lunatic threatening to kill everyone."

"Penny should sue Bragg for malicious prosecution and hold this rogue Soros prosecutor accountable," he added.

A Manhattan jury found Penny not guilty on Monday of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man who had been yelling at passengers aboard a subway car before Penny restrained him using a chokehold in May 2023.

After being arrested and taken into custody at the time of the incident, Penny was released following questioning. In June 2023 — a month after Neely's death — he was indicted by a grand jury and pleaded not guilty.

"The jury carefully deliberated for four days," the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said in a statement on Monday following the verdict. "They requested readbacks of testimony and asked for video footage to re-watch, as well as written definitions of the law. Their lengthy deliberation — and the totality of the facts and the evidence — underscored why this case was put in front of a jury of Mr. Penny's peers."

"The jury has now spoken," the statement continued. "At the Manhattan D.A.'s Office we deeply respect the jury process and we respect their verdict."

Neely's father, Andre Zachary, filed a civil suit against Penny in New York Supreme Court last week, accusing the veteran of negligent contact, assault, and battery that caused injuries and ultimately resulted in Neely's death.

"I've had enough of this; the system is rigged," Zachary told reporters outside the courthouse on Monday after the verdict was delivered.

Newsmax has reached out to Bragg's office for comment.

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