Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley called Daniel Penny’s arrest an “injustice” and urged Gov. Kathy Hochul to pardon the former Marine charged with manslaughter over the chokehold death of Jordan Neely.
During a Tuesday interview on WABC’s “Cats & Cosby” show, the former South Carolina governor defended Penny, saying he was trying to commit a “good deed” by protecting other straphangers when Neely began aggressively shouting and throwing trash on a crowded F train earlier this month.
“Military members, they are trained to defend and protect. That’s what he was trying to do,” Haley told hosts John Catsimatidis and Rita Cosby.
“He was trying to defend the people that were on there that were being harassed by this person and that was having challenges. And now he’s being prosecuted,” Haley said.
Penny was charged last Friday by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office after he was initially questioned by police and released.
Haley said the charges against Penny are an “injustice” and called on Hochul to take action.
“I actually don’t think we need to just get behind Penny. I think we need to tell the governor she needs to pardon him. We need to pardon him because what he was doing was trying to protect other Americans.”
Haley accused Bragg of politicizing the incident by charging the former serviceman rather than waiting to see whether a grand jury would bring down an indictment, as was originally planned.
“What Bragg is doing, he’s allowing criminals to run free on the street. And he’s going after citizens who are trying to protect themselves and protect people around them,” Haley said.
Haley has been busy availing herself for interviews as the presidential contender opines on high-profile topics dominating the news cycle.
In a Monday interview on Fox News’ “America’s Newsroom,” Haley said that “heads need to roll” in the wake of Special Counsel John Durham’s report that found the FBI lacked evidence to launch a “seriously flawed” investigation into the former president’s alleged collusion with Russia in 2016.
She said the missteps outlined in the report are the kind of thing that “happens in a third-world country” and called for President Biden, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to speak out about the investigation’s failure.
