Friends, family members and civil rights leaders gathered at a Harlem church on Friday to mourn Jordan Neely, who was killed when passengers restrained him on the New York subway rail system, including one who used a chokehold, setting off a fresh debate about vigilantism, homelessness, racism and public safety in the city.
Neely, 30, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who had been struggling with mental illness and lacking housing in recent years, died on 1 May when a fellow subway rider pinned him to the floor of a subway car in a chokehold that lasted several minutes.
The Rev Al Sharpton, the New York politician and civil rights activist, railed against vigilantism in a speech at Neely’s funeral and called for more support for the man’s family.
“What happened to Jordan was a crime, and this family shouldn’t have to stand by themselves,” he said.
The fatal struggle was recorded on video by an onlooker who said Neely, who was Black, had been yelling on the subway train as…
This article was written by Guardian staff and agency and originally published on www.theguardian.com