Daniel Penny breaks silence after being charged with death on NYC subway

The Marine veteran charged with manslaughter in the stranglehold of a homeless black man on the subway has broken his silence to insist the murder had nothing to do with race.

“I judge a person by his character. I’m not a white supremacist,” Daniel Penny told the New York Post in an interview on Saturday a week after he was hit with a second-degree manslaughter charge in the subway chokehold Jordan Neelie.

The May 1 confrontation was captured on video, which showed Penny restraining Neely with the help of two other passengers, after the homeless Michael Jackson impersonator allegedly shouted threats and threatened people on the train.

Now Penny suggests that he would take action again if faced with similar circumstances, nodding and telling Post, “I would—if there was a threat and danger in the present…”

On Friday, Neely’s funeral took place in Harlem, where Rev. Al Sharpton delivered a fiery eulogy to a crowd of hundreds, saying “when they strangled Jordan, they put their arms around us.”

But Penny dismissed suggestions that his fatal confrontation with Neely was an act of hate or discrimination, saying, “This had nothing to do with race.”

Daniel Penny, 24, faces 15 years in prison for putting Jordan Neely, 30, in a deadly stranglehold

On May 1, Penny put Neely in a fatal chokehold on a New York subway. Neely had threatened passengers

“I mean, it’s, it’s kind of comical. Anyone who has ever met me can tell you: I love all people, I love all cultures,” he told The Post.

“You can see it in my past and all my travels and adventures around the world. I was actually planning a road trip across Africa before this happened,” says Penny.

“I’m a normal kid,” Penny added, insisting he’s not a vigilante.

Penny, who is from Long Island, faces 15 years in prison for strangling Neely, in a subway confrontation that began after Neely allegedly yelled threats and threw objects into the train.

The case was highly polarizing, with conservative politicians wanting to defend Penny and liberals calling for him to be convicted and jailed.

But Penny told the Post that he doesn’t watch the news, and that while he was aware of negative opinions about him, he tried not to be influenced by them.

“When you’re facing all these challenges, you have to stay calm,” he said. “What’s the point of worrying about something, worrying won’t make your problems go away. I blame this on my father and grandfather. They’re very stoic.’

Penny also said he quit social media years ago.

“I don’t follow anyone, and I don’t have social media because I really don’t like the attention and I just think there are better ways to spend your time. I don’t like the spotlight.’

Developing story, more to follow.