SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
US Marine vet acquitted in NY subway death joins tech firm
Washington, Feb 5 (AFP) Feb 05, 2025
A US Marine veteran who was acquitted in the chokehold death of a homeless man on the New York subway -- a high-profile case highlighting the divisive issue of race in America -- has been hired by a major Silicon Valley firm allied with Donald Trump.

California-based Andreessen Horowitz said Daniel Penny would join the company's American Dynamism wing that supports the "national interest," including aerospace, defense and public safety, according to the firm's website on Wednesday.

Penny, who is white, was found not guilty in December of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old Black homeless man.

Neely's May 1, 2023, death on a New York subway train was caught on video by onlookers, and the footage was shared widely on social media.

According to witnesses, Neely, before being restrained by Penny, had been screaming at passengers for food and drink and saying he was willing to die.

The video showed Penny pinning Neely, who had a history of mental illness, in a chokehold on the floor of the train for several minutes.

Besides the racial element, the case brought into focus two issues in New York: mental illness among the city's homeless population and safety on public transit.

Protests erupted in New York after Neely's death, resulting in several arrests, as some decried Penny's actions as an example of white "vigilantism."

Marc Andreessen, a co-founder of the Silicon Valley firm, is a staunch backer of Trump and played a role behind the scenes in setting up the incoming tech-focused White House.

Andreessen Horowitz has backed major tech companies including Twitter (now known as X), Airbnb and Coinbase, and he is one of the longest-serving members on Meta's board alongside Mark Zuckerberg.

Andreessen, who co-founded Netscape in the 1990s, fights against any restrictions on technological development, whether from government regulation or social concerns, believing they are fundamentally detrimental to human progress.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
AI systems proposed to boost launch cadence reliability and traffic management
China debuts Long March 12A reusable rocket in Jiuquan test flight
Curiosity Blog, Sols 4750-4762: See You on the Other Side of the Sun

24/7 Energy News Coverage
Redesigned carbon framework boosts battery safety and power
Molecular catalyst switches between hydrogen and oxygen production
Project Pele microreactor reaches key milestone with first TRISO fuel delivery

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
SDA expands Tracking Layer satellite awards and related missile defense contracts
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access
Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide SAR reconnaissance data to German military

24/7 News Coverage
OPERA satellite data sharpens US crop and water management
Alen Space begins SATMAR satellite validation over Bay of Algeciras
Deep Arctic gas hydrate mounds host ultra deep cold seep ecosystem



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.