Penny was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in December 2024.
Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran
acquitted of criminally negligent homicide last year after using a chokehold to subdue a mentally ill subway passenger, has been hired by the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
Penny joined Andreessen Horowitz as a deal partner on its American Dynamism team, according to the company’s
website. It is unclear when Penny joined the investment company.
Andreessen Horowitz states on its website that the department focused on investing in companies that support the national interest, including aerospace, defense, public safety, education, housing, and industrials.
Vice President JD Vance said in a
post on social media platform X on Tuesday that Penny’s hiring was “incredible news.”
Vance previously
described Penny as a “good guy” and invited him to the U.S. Army–Navy game after his acquittal in December 2024. Vance’s post was later shared by David Ulevitch, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz who leads the company’s American Dynamism team.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Ulevitch for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.
Penny was found not guilty by a Manhattan jury on Dec. 9, 2024, in connection with the death of Jordan Neely. Neely was a mentally ill homeless man who died after Penny restrained him during a 2023 incident on a New York City subway.
His lawyers had argued that Penny was trying to protect himself and other passengers when he subdued Neely in a chokehold.
Witnesses
said that Neely boarded the train and began screaming that he was ready to go back to jail. Prosecutors said that Penny’s hold on Neely had caused an asphyxial death.
Neely had previously been arrested for assaulting people at subway stations. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had drugs in his system at the time of his death.
Penny first spoke publicly about the case during an
interview with Fox News on Dec. 10, 2024, where he defended his actions. Penny said that he was not a “confrontational person” and that he did not “want any type of attention or praise” for his actions.
“The guilt I would have 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,” he told the news outlet. “I’ll take a million court appearances and people calling me names and people hating me just to keep one of those people from getting hurt or killed.”
Michael Washburn contributed to this report.
