Anger Mounts After Chokehold Death Of Michael Jackson Impersonator

NEW YORK CITY — The death of an unhoused Michael Jackson impersonator, who lost his life on a city subway train in a chokehold that lasted 15 minutes, has spurred outrage from New Yorkers who wonder why the unnamed Marine who did it walked free, according to police and news reports.

One elected official, Brooklyn State Senator Jabari Brisport said that Neely was "lynched."

"He had no food, no water, no safe place to rest. He had the audacity to publicly yell about that massive injustice, so they killed him," Brisport tweeted.

Mayor Eric Adams, in a statement made to a reporter which was later shared on social media, said that “any loss of life is tragic. There’s a lot we don’t know about what happened here, so I’m going to refrain from commenting further." The statement, shared by Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max, then touted his administration's "record investments" in mental health initiatives.

Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said that he had seen Neely perform "many times on the A train. He always made people smile."

"Our broken mental health system failed him. He deserved help, not to die in a chokehold on the floor of the subway," Levine tweeted.

"NYC is not Gotham," said city comptroller Brad Lander. "We must not become a city where a mentally ill human being can be choked to death by a vigilante without consequence. Or where the killer is justified & cheered."

Governor Kathy Hochul called released video footage of Neely being choked by an unidentified 24-year-old man, later released by police, "deeply disturbing," according to multiple reports.

The graphic footage shows Neely struggling as the man holds him in a chokehold, with his legs wrapped around Neely's body. Fellow passengers assisted to restrain Neely, who has a history of arrests and of mental health issues.

Witnesses told the New York Daily News that the 15-minute-long chokehold began after Neely was being disruptive on the train and had thrown garbage, prompting an argument with the Long Island Marine, reportedly in between deployments, and resulted in the soon-to-be-deadly chokehold.

According to the New York Times, the man who filmed the video, freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez, said that part of that "erratic behavior" was Neely yelling: “‘I don’t have food, I don’t have a drink, I’m fed up,’” he told the newspaper, and “‘I don’t mind going to jail and getting life in prison. I’m ready to die.’”

The video shows Neely movements cease as the man continues to hold his arm around the 30-year-old Neely's throat.

When police arrived to the station at just before 2:30 p.m., they discovered an unconscious Neely who was brought to Lenox Hill Health Plex, where he was declared dead, officials said.

Police briefly detained the Marine but later released him without charges, prompting many to question why there was no arrest made, according to reports, and a police spokesperson said an investigation is ongoing.

“I am confused now because I’m not sure how to think about what the young man did,” the man who filmed the incident told the New York Times. “He was trying to help.”

The medical examiner has yet to determine the official cause of death.

On Wednesday, the Manhattan District Attorney's office told the New York Post that there was an ongoing investigation.

Neely's father, Andre Zachery, 60, told Daily News reporters that Neely's mother also had a tragic death, killed by a boyfriend in 2007 when her son was only 18-years-old.

Her body, according to the Daily News, was found stuffed in a suitcase on the side of a Bronx road.

Dave Geffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, said that Neely's death was "another reminder of Governor Hochuls’ and Mayor Adams’ complete failure to provide the critical mental health services desperately needed by so many people in our city."

"What’s more, the fact that someone who took the life of a distressed, mentally-ill human being on a subway could be set free without facing any consequences is shocking, and evidences the City’s callous indifference to the lives of those who are homeless and psychiatrically unwell," Geffen said. "This is an absolute travesty that must be investigated immediately."