Daniel Penny, a former Marine, who was recently found not guilty in a high-profile case of manslaughter, has been honored for his bravery on a subway in New York City.

Penny, 26, received the coveted Semper Fidelis achievement award by the Marine Corps League at Iwo Jima Day in Boston.

The two attorneys who represented him in the case, Thomas Keniff and Steve Raiser, also received honors.

The League commended Penny for embodying the spirit of selfless service and sacrifice when he put his life on the line to protect the passengers aboard the New York City train, as reported by New York Post.

Kenniff and Raiser then ‘defended Danny from a prosecution that never should have been sought.’

Penny had potentially faced a sentence of up to 20 years for his actions during an incident on the subway on May 1, 2023, wherein Jordan Neely, a black homeless man and a Michael Jackson impersonator with a history of over 40 previous arrests, started to behave threateningly towards the passengers.

The ex-Marine placed Neely, 30, into a chokehold for roughly six minutes, as caught on camera. Neely died shortly afterward.

Following a six-week trial at Manhattan Supreme Court, prosecutors made a bombshell decision to drop the manslaughter charge against him as the jury remained deadlocked.

Marine veteran Daniel Penny, 26, received the coveted Semper Fidelis achievement award by the Marine Corps League at Iwo Jima Day in Boston

Outside of the State House, Brig. General Enoch ‘Woody’ Woodhouse, one of the Tuskegee Airmen, took Penny’s hand, looked him in the eye and said, ‘I’m proud of you son’

Pushing ahead with lesser charges of negligent homicide, the jury returned a not-guilty verdict days later, prompting a small smile from Penny in the courtroom. 

Ahead of Wednesday’s ceremony, John M. MacGillivray, of the Marine Corps League wrote that the award goes to ‘worthy and inspirational recipients’.

‘We believe that Daniel Penny and attorneys Raiser and Kenniff deserve such recognition and hope that they will consent to accept these awards,’ he said. 

Raiser, in turn, said he, Kenniff and Penny ‘were honored to be in the same room being honored alongside many veterans of prior wars, including an Iwo Jima veteran and a retired general who served as one of the Tuskegee Airmen.’

Kenniff also noted that outside of the State House, Brig. General Enoch ‘Woody’ Woodhouse, one of the Tuskegee Airmen, took Penny’s hand, looked him in the eye and said, ‘I’m proud of you son.’

‘That is a moment I don’t think any of us will forget,’ he said.

While the veterans honored Penny for his heroism, others were left outraged by his acquittal.

Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, for example, blasted the decision outside the courthouse.

‘It really, really hurts,’ he said. ‘I had enough of this. The system is rigged.’ 

Penny was acquitted of the manslaughter of Michael Jackson impersonator Jordan Neely, 30

The ex-Marine placed Neely, 30, into a chokehold for roughly six minutes, as caught on camera

Black Lives Matter leader Walter ‘Hawk’ Newsome, who said he was Neely’s uncle, even went as far as threatening Penny in the courtroom with ‘black vigilante’ action.

He shouted, ‘it’s a small f**king world, buddy’, amid the chaos which followed the verdict being announced at Manhattan Supreme Court on December 9. 

Then, speaking to media and later protesters outside the courthouse, Newsome said it was time for ‘black vigilantes.’

‘Everybody else has vigilantes. We need some black vigilantes,’ he said.

‘People want to jump up and choke us and kill us for being loud, how about we do the same when they attempt to oppress us.’

Following a six-week trial at Manhattan Supreme Court , prosecutors made a bombshell decision to drop the manslaughter charge against him as the jury remained deadlocked

Some protested Penny’s acquittal outside the Manhattan Criminal Court 

But the day after being found not guilty, Penny sat down with Judge Jeanine Pirro and said he would have felt responsible ‘if someone did get hurt’ after he said Neely threatened to kill people onboard the train.

‘The guilt I would’ve felt if someone did get hurt, if he did do what he was threatening to do, I would never be able to live with myself,’ Penny said.

He told the former judge that he felt that he was ‘in a very vulnerable position’ as he held Neely back on the floor of an F train.

‘He was just threatening to kill people. He was threatening to go to jail forever, go to jail for the rest of his life, and now I’m on the ground with him.

‘I’m on my back in a very vulnerable position… If I just let him go, now I’m on my back and he can turn around and start doing what he said – to me… killing, hurting,’ Penny explained.

Although the case sparked whirlwind attention across the nation, Penny said he is ‘not a confrontational person’ and someone who prefers to stay out of the spotlight.

Penny has now been picked up by Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz

He has now been picked up by Silicon Valley investment firm Andreessen Horowitz, according to an internal memo obtained by The Free Press. 

‘He will learn the business of investing and he will work to support our portfolio companies,’ David Ulevitch, a general partner at the firm, wrote in the note. 

The finance heavyweight addressed Penny’s seismic court case, which bitterly divided Americans across racial, political and social lines.   

Ulevitch praised Penny’s ‘courage’ and urged fellow employees at the investment firm not to reduce him to ‘the worst moment’ in his life.

‘I believe, as I know many of you do, that Daniel acted with courage in a tough situation,’ he wrote in the memo to staff. ‘He was acquitted of all charges. 

‘Beyond that, it has always been our policy to evaluate the entire person and not judge them for the worst moment in their entire life.’