Daniel Penny’s lawyers crowdfund defense on site used to raise money for Jan. 6 defendants

Attorneys for Daniel Penny have collected more than $280,000 for a legal defense fund through a website that bills itself as a Christian fundraising platform and has supported several divisive right-wing cases.

The official fund, generated by law firm Raiser & Kenniff, P.C. which is representing Penny, had raised more than $283,000 as of 11 a.m. Friday. Penny’s lawyers confirmed they set up the fund on GiveSendGo, and said it launched earlier this week.

Like many crowdsourcing sites, GiveSendGo supports various causes, such as medical bills and funeral expenses. It has promoted itself as “The #1 Free Christian Fundraising Site” and has also hosted funds for the Jan. 6 defendants and Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of homicide after killing two people during a 2020 protest in Wisconsin.

Penny is seen in video footage choking Jordan Neely, a homeless man, on an F train headed uptown in early May as other passengers held Neely down. The city medical examiner said Neely died by strangulation and deemed his death a homicide.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office announced Thursday it would be charging Penny with manslaughter and he surrendered to police on Friday morning. He is expected to be arraigned on Friday afternoon.

“Daniel Penny is a 24-year-old college student and decorated Marine veteran, facing a criminal investigation stemming from him protecting individuals on a NYC subway train from an assailant who later died,” the fund description reads. “Funds are being raised to pay Mr. Penny’s legal fees incurred from any criminal charges filed and any future civil lawsuits that may arise, as well as expenses related to his defense.”

The fund notes that proceeds exceeding “those necessary to cover Mr. Penny’s legal defense will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City,” though it does not specify which one. A fundraising goal is not listed on the GiveSendGo page.

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What to know

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• The Manhattan DA’s office will charge Daniel Penny with second-degree manslaughter for choking Jordan Neely to death on an uptown F train last week.
• In New York state, second-degree manslaughter charges apply when someone is accused of recklessly causing the death of another person.
• The DA’s office has not said if it’s considering charges against any other passengers on the train that day, including two other men who appeared to be helping to restrain Neely in a video posted online.

As of Friday morning, the fund had received more than 4,700 donations and more than 3,400 “pray” votes, a feature unique to GiveSendGo. It has been shared more than a thousand times.

GiveSendGo has been host to several right-leaning crowdfunding campaigns in the past, among them legal defense funds for Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of all charges in a criminal trial after fatally shooting two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020, amid protests against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was left paralyzed.

It also established a Jan. 6 legal defense fund for people charged in connection with the 2021 Capitol riots as well as a “legal offense fund” for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who promoted former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“All Americans are concerned about election integrity,” said GiveSendGo co-founder Jacob Wells in a press release at the time. “Through this campaign Mike Lindell is giving them an opportunity to correct flaws in the system.”

In a statement provided to Gothamist Friday, Wells confirmed the site's religious philosophy, but said it supports causes across the political spectrum.

"GiveSendGo does not support right wing causes over left wing causes. GiveSendGo is a platform that allows campaigns, that are legal endeavors, from all sides of the political/ideological divide. In this moment in time when voices are amplified through social platforms, potentially damaging an individuals right to a fair and impartial trial, it is paramount to allow individuals the access to funds to afford them a rigorous defense and a presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law," Wells said. "This principle is fundamental to our constitutional republic and at GiveSendGo we will continue to stand for these fundamental freedoms while also sharing the Hope of Jesus with everyone who uses our platform. "

This story has been updated with additional comment and information.