How a killing on New York subway exposed a broken system – podcast

When Jordan Neely, a homeless Michael Jackson impersonator, died at the hands of a fellow passenger this month, it shocked the world. But what does it reveal about the city?

It is a death that has revealed deep divides in the US, and exposed a crisis in mental health and homeless care. On 1 May, a mentally ill homeless man named Jordan Neely began shouting on the New York subway. Fellow passenger Daniel Penny got him in a chokehold and, in front of other travellers, Neely was killed.

After the death of Neely, a popular Michael Jackson impersonator, protesters took to the subway and the streets and a crowdfunder was set up to pay for his funeral. Other Americans hailed Penny as a hero and donated more than $2.7m to his defence fund.