Yesterday, protesters gathered in New York City to demand justice for Jordan Neely, who was killed by United States Marine veteran Daniel Penny on the subway last week.
According to reports, Penny held Neely in a chokehold for an estimated 15 minutes after passengers accused Neely of being a menacing presence on the train. In a statement to the press, Penny’s lawyers claimed that Neely was “aggressively threatening” him and other passengers.
Since Neely’s death, protesters have marched in SoHo, where the killing happened, calling for the district attorney to charge Penny.
At a protest last night, the NYPD arrested 11 people and claimed they found a Molotov cocktail.
During a press conference announcing how the department respected the right to protest, the NYPD said they will not tolerate people “bringing weapons and dangerous substances to peaceful protests.”
According to the NYPD, officers discovered the “Molotov cocktail” on the ground at the protest.
“As you see, it’s a glass bottle,” NYPD Department Chief Jeffrey Maddrey said. “There’s a liquid in there.”
Maddrey noted the liquid had not been tested, and that he did not know what it was.
The NYPD also shared a picture of the alleged “Molotov cocktail.”
Police did not say whether the liquid smelled of an accelerant, which is needed to make Molotov cocktails, but cited the rag in it as evidence it was a makeshift bomb.
What the internet noticed, however, was that the glass bottle is a brand of seltzer popular among a certain class of affluent Brooklyn residents: Topo Chico.
“Topo Chico. That’s a middle-class hipster Molotov cocktail. Only in New York,” said one.
Others doubted the veracity of the NYPD’s claim.
“Fabricated Topo Chico Molotov cocktail is beautiful and tragic to me,” wrote one user.
Police said that arrests were made for violating sound ordinances and disrupting traffic. The NYPD added it suspect a specific individual of bringing the alleged Molotov cocktail to the protest and has not arrested anyone for it.
