The answer is neither, and that's pretty obvious to everyone, even New York City Mayor Eric Adams, surprisingly. 

As I've made very clear before, Penny did nothing wrong, and in a just world, he'd be hailed as a hero for what he did. Neely's death wasn't his fault. He was a drug-addled, mentally ill individual who probably wasn't in the best condition, and it's likely Penny's use of force eventually lead to his compromised body not being able to take the punishment. Penny clearly knew what he was doing. He was trained to do it, and he knew when to stop and what to do after to help a person recover. 

But he had to do it. The only other option was to sit back and let this man do what he wanted in a train full of innocent people, and heroes don't just sit there and let people come to harm when they can do something about it. 

Penny's real crime, according to New York politicians, is that his actions threatened to bring attention to their failed leadership and policies. My colleague Bob Hoge put it very well in an article he wrote: 

It’s woke politics and progressive policies. It’s leftist politicians and soft-on-crime, George Soros-backed prosecutors like Manhattan’s Alvin Bragg—whose office filed this abomination—who put those passengers in danger. Who put Penny in a position where he had to use his hard-earned skills to protect his fellow New Yorkers. 

What in the hell was Neely doing out on the streets?

Hoge answered his own question. "It's woke politics and progressive policies." 

Democrat politicians have failed New Yorkers to the point where New Yorkers, or people visiting, have to deal with the fallout of their failed policies. When politicians are soft on crime, the people wind up having to deal with it first hand. 

As I covered in May, the crime problem in New York has city-dwellers resorting to vigilante justice. 

(It's Happening: New York's Crime Has Gotten So Bad That Vigilante Justice Is on the Horizon)

Penny did the job the people in charge were supposed to do, and this makes them look bad. In the Democrat world, there is no crime greater than making them look bad and threatening their hold on power. Penny is on trial because is actions made people question the validity and efficacy of the people at the top. 

Penny isn't being held because he committed a crime, he's being held because he's a political prisoner. 

They're using Penny's white skin and the fact that he stopped a black man as a distraction from the fact that they are the real problem here. They created Neely, or at the very least, allowed Neely to exist in this state for so long. They forced Penny's hand, and we can all see that, but their thinking is that they can rely on the tried-and-true tactic of making this an issue of racial justice. 

My sincere hope is that Penny is found innocent of all charges and released. It would be the right thing to do, but if Penny isn't, his imprisonment will only backfire on the Democrats in a huge way. It will prove the justice system is so far out of wack and something desperately needs to change. Penny would be a catalyst for a culture change in New York and one that the Democrats won't like. 

I truly hope it doesn't get that far, but we're about to see. As Hoge noted in a breaking piece, the jury couldn't come to an agreement on the top charge, manslaughter in the second degree. So we sit and wait to see how broken New York is, knowing it's broken already. 

But rest assured, New York is not seeking justice for Neely, it's seeking punishment for Penny daring to highlight its failures.