The trial of Daniel Penny for the death of Jordan Neely in a subway chokehold begins in New York

A trial has begun in the case of a former US Marine accused of fatally putting a homeless man in a chokehold on a New York subway.

Daniel Penny, 25, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

Witnesses said Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old black man, was yelling at other subway passengers and asking for money when Mr. Penny, who is white, held him down for several minutes and eventually killed him.

The May 2023 event quickly became a political flashpoint, with conservatives praising Mr. Penny as a hero and critics, including civil rights activists, saying he had behaved as an unwarranted vigilante.

Before jury selection began on Monday, a crowd of about 40 people gathered outside the New York courthouse to protest Mr. Neely's death.

Mr. Penny, who has been free on bail since his arraignment, arrived at Manhattan Criminal Court on Monday wearing a blue suit. He stared straight ahead as he sat next to his lawyers.

New York Judge Maxwell Wiley said the first days of jury selection will be about selecting Manhattan residents who can take part in a trial expected to last six weeks. The voir dire jury selection process — in which potential jurors are asked questions about their background and possible biases — is expected to begin Friday.

Mr. Penny, who said he acted in self-defense, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

Prosecutors say he placed Mr. Neely in a chokehold “that lasted approximately six minutes and continued well past the point at which Mr. Neely ceased his purposeful movement.”

Fellow passengers filmed the incident, with a freelance journalist recording Mr Penny holding Mr Neely around the neck for several minutes.

Witnesses said Mr. Neely shouted that he was hungry and ready to go back to prison or die, but there were no signs that he had physically assaulted anyone.

Paramedics were unable to revive him and Mr Neely was pronounced dead in hospital.

The city's medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by compression of the neck.

Mr. Neely was a Michael Jackson impersonator who performed in Times Square and was known throughout the city.

He has already had dozens of arrests for tax evasion, theft and assaulting three women.

Family members say he had mental health problems that began more than 15 years ago when his mother was strangled by her boyfriend.

Mr. Penny, a Long Island native who served in the Marines, wrote on social media that he had no intention of killing Mr. Neely.

“I was scared for myself, but I looked around, there were women and children, he was shouting in their faces and saying these threats. I just couldn’t sit still,” he wrote.

Awareness of the danger of chokeholds has grown following the 2014 death of Eric Garner, an unarmed New York City man whose neck was tied by police. The state then banned police from using chokeholds during arrests. After the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, it went even further to include sitting, standing or kneeling on a person's back or diaphragm.