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Ramona Singer, a longtime figure on Bravo's Real Housewives of New York City, ignited a wave of backlash after posting an Instagram photo alongside Daniel Penny, the ex-Marine acquitted in the 2023 chokehold death of Jordan Neely. The image, taken at a Manhattan gala hosted by Penny's legal team, was captioned, "So proud Daniel Penny!! #apennysaved #hero." It was removed hours later following intense public outcry.
The backlash was swift and sharp. Critics flooded Singer's comment section. "Even for you this is LOW," one user wrote. Another added, "He murdered a homeless man! You are shameless." A Reddit thread condemning Singer's post amassed over 3,000 upvotes within 24 hours. "Ramona really said where's rock bottom and found it," a user commented. Public figures also weighed in. Preston Mitchum, of Summer House: Martha's Vineyard, wrote, "Some white women get away with anything they want – no matter how disgusting."
Penny, 26, was acquitted of second-degree manslaughter charges in December 2024 after placing Neely, a 30-year-old unhoused Black man, in a fatal chokehold aboard an F train in New York City. Witnesses testified that Neely was acting erratically and yelling threats at passengers. According to The New York Times, Neely was on a city-monitored list of 50 homeless individuals identified as high-risk due to mental health crises and repeated refusals of intervention.
The six-minute chokehold, however, sparked outrage, drawing comparisons to high-profile killings of unarmed Black men. Protests erupted across the city in the weeks following Neely's death. Advocates argued that Penny escalated the situation and applied lethal force unnecessarily. "You don't kill a man because he's yelling," said Reverend Al Sharpton at Neely's memorial. "This was not justice. This was vigilante violence."
Despite the controversy, Penny gained a vocal group of supporters, including actor Jon Voight, who called him "a hero." Voight, recently appointed to a government position by former President Donald Trump, defended Penny's actions: "If you're in that situation, I can easily put myself in that situation." The Singer's representative attempted to contain the fallout. In a statement to Page Six, they said, "Daniel was found not guilty and he was protecting lives. Some of the same people criticizing Ramona praise individuals with far worse criminal allegations."
