By now, everyone who has been paying any attention knows that Daniel Penny has been acquitted of all charges in the death of Jordan Neely.
Rather than rehash for the umpteenth time all of the details of the case, or offer the same kind of analysis that every political commentator can be relied upon to make, it is to the lessons for self-defense that this episode supplies to which I draw the reader’s attention.
First, those of Neely’s apologists who now say that Penny’s actions were unjustified because Neely hadn’t actually harmed, i.e., physically assaulted, any of the passengers to whom he was motioning and issuing murderous threats, sound beyond foolish. They are reckless, as this kind of advice can and has gotten people who may have otherwise survived violent encounters killed.
By Jack Kerwick
