‘Not The Right Thing To Do’: NYC Mayor Adams Calls AOC Irresponsible For Tweets About Subway Chokehold Killing

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said tweets sent by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week were irresponsible and “not the right thing to do,” after a homeless man was killed in a subway altercation on Monday.

The victim, Jordan Neely, was killed when the man he was fighting with put him a chokehold and held him in it until he lost consciousness, according to reports. Disturbing video of the altercation was shared online by passengers.

The death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner late Wednesday night. Before that, Ocasio-Cortez and other public figures spoke out on social media about the incident.

The congresswoman attacked the New York Times and the Mayor over the incident, calling it a murder, blaming the city’s law enforcement and Adams‘ “tough on crime” stance, and attacking “passive headlines” and more.

Jordan Neely was murdered.

But bc Jordan was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services to militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor, the murderer gets protected w/ passive headlines + no charges.

It’s disgusting. https://t.co/YJeQp9bbgE

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2023

It is appalling how so many take advantage of headlines re: crime for an obsolete “tough on crime” political, media, & budgetary gain, but when a public murder happens that reinforces existing power structures, those same forces rush to exonerate&look the other way. We shouldn’t.

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2023

This honestly feels like a new low: not being able to clearly condemn a public murder because the victim was of a social status some would deem “too low” to care about.

The last sentence is especially rich from an admin trying to cut the very services that could have helped him. https://t.co/0DtXl9DOO5

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 3, 2023

Adams was asked about the congresswoman’s tweets and said sending them was not very responsible.

“I don’t think that’s very responsible at the time when we’re still investigating the situation,” he said. “Let the DA conduct his investigation with the law enforcement officials.”

“To really interfere with that is not the right thing to do,” said Adams. “I’m going to be responsible and allow them to do their job.”

The Manhattan DA’s office confirmed on Wednesday they are investigating. The 24-year-old man who choked the victim, reportedly a former Marine, was released without being charged at this time.

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