Popular musician and WWE Hall of Famer Kid Rock is one of the top donors to Marine veteran Daniel Penny’s legal defense fund. The 24-year-old was charged in the New York City subway chokehold death of a homeless man.
It has been noted that the GiveSendGo fundraiser has surpassed $2 million in donations with the help of the musician, who gave $5,000 and had a pointed message for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“Mr. Penny is a hero. Alvin Bragg is a POS. Kid Rock,” the message reads.
A representative for the “American Bad A–” crooner confirmed he was behind the donation.
It has come to light that donations have poured in from all over the country since Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter Friday for fatally choking Jordan Neely, 30, on a New York City train.
Prosecutors said Neely, who suffered from mental illness, had been “making threats and scaring passengers” on May 1 when Penny dragged him to the floor and wrapped his arm around his neck to restrain him.
Kid Rock, whose given name is Robert Ritchie, wasn’t the only big-name donor.
Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, 37, donated $10,000.The Ohio resident said Neely should have been behind bars or in a mental institution, “not free to terrorize his fellow citizens.”
“You have an abandonment of the rule of law,” he told Fox News Digital. “Then someone who tries to assist and protect people, based on the current facts we have … is now being prosecuted. That represents a perversion of how the system is supposed to work.”
As of Monday morning, more than 42,000 people had donated to the campaign on the Christian crowdfunding site. Penny’s lawyers, Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser, launched the fund on Tuesday to raise money to defend their client against criminal charges and potential civil lawsuits. The attorneys said any leftover contributions would be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City.
