Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran acquitted on a cost of criminally negligent murder in Manhattan in December, has been employed by one in all Silicon Valley’s most prestigious enterprise capital corporations to affix its “American Dynamism” group.
Mr. Penny, a Lengthy Island native and former structure pupil, will work in a gaggle that helps American pursuits, together with the aerospace, protection and manufacturing sectors, in response to the web site of the corporate, Andreessen Horowitz.
Mr. Penny was charged in 2023 by the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace with manslaughter and criminally negligent murder after a video of him fatally choking one other passenger, Jordan Neely, on the subway circulated on-line that Could.
“We consider in Daniel and are excited to have him as a part of our group,” David Ulevitch, a associate on the agency, wrote in a memo to staff on Tuesday that was relayed to The New York Instances.
Mr. Ulevitch mentioned within the memo that the agency plans to show Mr. Penny “the enterprise of investing” and that he’ll help a number of of the agency’s portfolio corporations. On Andreessen Horowitz’s web site, Mr. Penny is listed as a “deal associate.”
Margit Wennmachers, a spokeswoman for the agency, didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Thomas Kenniff, Mr. Penny’s lawyer throughout the trial, mentioned that he and his associate, Steven Raiser, had been “extraordinarily completely satisfied” concerning the information.
“The unjust prosecution not solely put his liberty at jeopardy but additionally risked depriving society of an honest and gifted younger man,” Mr. Kenniff mentioned on Tuesday. “And we all know that he might be happening to do nice issues as he enters this subsequent chapter of his life.”
Marc Andreessen, a co-founder of the agency, strongly supported President Trump within the final presidential election, saying that the Biden administration had been a hindrance on issues involving cryptocurrency and synthetic intelligence.
Talking on the “Truthfully With Bari Weiss” podcast in December, he mentioned that he had spent about half of his time at Mar-a-Lago since Election Day, serving to President Trump’s group. A number of members of his agency have been a part of the administration’s orbit.
The hiring of Mr. Penny was first reported by The Free Press, of which Ms. Weiss is a founder.
Mr. Penny’s manslaughter case divided New Yorkers, in addition to the nation.
He had been on an uptown F practice on the afternoon of Could 1 when Mr. Neely, who had struggled together with his psychological well being for years, boarded the automotive, approaching passengers and shouting about eager to return to jail and never caring if he lived or died. Mr. Penny approached Mr. Neely from behind and put him in a chokehold, taking him to the ground.
Mr. Penny informed officers that he had acted to guard others on the practice as a result of he believed that Mr. Neely posed a risk and was poised to kill somebody.
A four-minute video recorded by a bystander shortly unfold on-line, exhibiting the lads struggling on the ground of the subway practice.
Some folks noticed the confrontation as emblematic of a damaged system that lets susceptible folks slip via the cracks. Mr. Neely had been on an inventory of individuals in New York Metropolis who stand out for the severity of their psychological well being troubles and their resistance to accepting assist. Mr. Neely had additionally been arrested greater than three dozen instances — largely for minor crimes like turnstile-jumping or trespassing, however at the very least 4 instances on fees of punching folks, two within the subway system.
For others, what occurred on that Could afternoon was simply the most recent in a string of high-profile crimes within the metropolis’s subway system, lots of which concerned homeless and mentally ailing folks. The episode, they mentioned, was a consequence of town’s incapability to maintain residents protected.
The case shortly grew to become a staple on Fox Information, and Mr. Penny was praised as a hero by some conservatives.
In December, jurors deadlocked on essentially the most critical cost Mr. Penny confronted, manslaughter, and the cost was dismissed by the decide. Jurors then thought of criminally negligent murder, and finally acquitted him.
After the decision, Republican figures together with Vice President JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr. and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani praised the jury and criticized the district legal professional, Alvin Bragg, for pursuing the case.
“Thank God justice was completed on this case,” Mr. Vance mentioned on social media on the time. “It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted within the first place.”
