NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree about Navy veteran Daniel Penny’s encounter last year with an angry, angry man who was making ominous remarks on a New York subway: Penny didn’t want to- it kills him.

But a prosecutor told jurors Friday that Penny “went way too far” in trying to neutralize someone he saw as a threat rather than a person, while a defense attorney said Penny gave evidence of “courage” and put the well-being of others before himself when he placed Jordan Neely in a chokehold that ended with Neely limping to the floor.

Both sides gave opening statements on Friday manslaughter trial around Neely’s death. The case rattled fault lines surrounding race, homelessness, perceptions of public safety and bystander responsibility.

Penny’s critics see him as a white killer of a black man who acted erratically and made horrific statements, but was unarmed and had not attacked or even touched anyone on the subway car. Supporters credit Penny, 25, with taking action to protect the frightened riders – an action she said was meant to defuse, not kill.

Prosecutor Dafna Yoran told jurors the case was not “a referendum on our society’s failure to deal with mental illness and homelessness in the subway,” nor about the police response, whether Penny had the right to intervene before officers arrived, or even if the initial decision to use a choke was appropriate.

Rather, she said, “He used far too much force for far too long. It went too far.”

She said he showed “indifference” to Neely and “failed to recognize his humanity.”

Not so, said defense attorney Thomas Kenniff. He told jurors that Penny only used as much force as was necessary to subdue a “fiery, psychotic” man who lunged at a woman with a young child and declared: “I’m going to kill”.

“At that point, Danny could look away and pray, or he could summon the courage to put the safety of his neighbors above his own to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves,” he did the latter, Kenniff said.

“It doesn’t make him a hero. But that doesn’t make him a killer.”

Jurors, who were surveyed earlier about their subway experienceshe later saw a police video of officers trying to resuscitate Neely on the subway floor and Penny calmly explaining that she “knocked him out.”

The case has been absorbed into the troubled politics of the United States, with Republican officials speaking for Penny and the democratic ones attending Neely’s funeral. Both Penny’s supporters and critics staged demonstrations; Penny arrived at court on Friday to critical chants from a small group of protesters.

Once in court, Penny sat up straight in her chair at the defense table, mostly looking straight ahead. A member of Neely’s family who was in the audience sniffed at times with tears.

“We know who the victim is in this case and we know who the villain is,” family attorney Donte Mills said outside the court.

Neely’s life was torn apart by mental illness and drug use after his mother was murdered and stuffed in a suitcase when he was a teenager, his family said. By his 30s, he sometimes entertained subway riders as a Michael Jackson impersonator, but he also had a criminal record that included assaulting a woman at a subway station.

Penny, an architecture student who served four years in the Marines, was walking from a college class to a gym when she encountered Neely on a subway on May 1, 2023.

Neely was begging for money, yelling that he was willing to die or go to jail and making sudden movements, according to witnesses. Yoran said Neely talked about hurting people.

Penny put her arm around the man’s neck, took him to the floor and held Neely there with Penny’s legs around him.

With a bystander videotaping part of the encounter, Penny held Neely for about six minutes, Yoran said. The holdup continued as the train pulled into a station, all but two got off, the two helped restrain Neely, and another warned Penny, “If you don’t -let him go now, you will kill him”. according to his statement and court documents.

Kenniff said Penny begged the other passengers to call the police and continued to hold Neely as the man periodically thrashed or tried to stand up.

Penny finally released Neely about a minute after his body went limp, prosecutors said. He waited for the police, but Yoran noted that although Penny was trained in first aid, he did not check Neely’s breathing or pulse or try to resuscitate him.

Penny later told police that she simply wanted to “de-escalate” the heated situation and was not trying to hurt Neely, but rather “stop him from hurting someone else.”

City coroners determined that Neely died of neck compression. Penny’s lawyers dispute that finding.

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Associated Press reporters Joseph Frederick and David R. Martin contributed.