Check out the headline and lead sentence of the front-page story on the Daniel Perry acquittal in Tuesday’s New York Times, “Jury Acquits Man Who Was Choking Rider On Subway Cleared of Homicide -- Split Reaction in a Case Reflecting Tensions in New York City,” by Hurubie Meko and Anusha Bayya.

Yes, a man just randomly choked an innocent subway “rider” in New York City -- not a loud, threatening disruptor with a long criminal record who posed a potentially deadly threat to other passengers.

The lead was no better. Again what a bizarre way to describe Daniel Penny’s brave subduing of Jordan Neely.

Daniel Penny, a former Marine who choked a fellow subway rider on an uptown F train last year, was acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide on Monday, ending a case that had come to exemplify New York City’s post-pandemic struggles.

The jurors decided that Mr. Penny’s actions were not criminal when he held the rider, Jordan Neely, in a chokehold as the two men struggled on the floor of a subway car on May 1, 2023.

There was nothing on Neely’s lengthy criminal record, 42 prior arrests in just eight years, including four for alleged assault, at least two instances of which took place in yes, the subway system.

The story didn’t get much better.

Neely, who was homeless and had a history of mental illness, had strode through the subway car that afternoon, yelling at passengers and frightening them, according to witnesses.

After the forewoman announced the verdict, the courtroom erupted, with some people cheering the outcome and others responding with anger.

The paper’s standard labeling slant was present, with “conservatives” and “Republicans” present on Penny’s side but no “liberals” or “Democrats” on Neely’s side.

As prosecutors were set to close their case last Tuesday, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, called Mr. Penny “innocent” and a “hero” in a social media post.

“Under Alvin Bragg, saving a train car full of innocent people is a crime,” the group posted.

For others, the killing showed the city’s inability or unwillingness to help its most vulnerable and marginalized residents. And Mr. Penny, they said, deserved to be punished.

Members of Black Lives Matter and the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network protested across from the courthouse nearly every morning, their chants sometimes audible inside the stuffy courtroom on the 13th floor where the trial unfolded. As Mr. Penny walked into the building, they would shout “murderer” and “subway strangler.”

There were two more paragraphs of quotes from Sharpton, the racial ambulance chaser who is himself supposedly a journalist, hosting a show on MSNBC.

The same authors wrote a follow-up for Wednesday’s edition, “In Penny Verdict, a Flashpoint in the Debate Over Crime and Mental Illness -- A New York jury acquitted Daniel Penny in the death of Jordan Neely. Republican politicians hailed the verdict. But some New Yorkers found it deeply disturbing.”

Were only “Republican politicians” happy that justice prevailed? The conceit that real New Yorkers take dangerous subway rides in stride is just a strain of urban liberal pride.

Again, Neely’s violent criminal record was left on the cutting room floor by the Times.

If the death of Mr. Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man who had struggled with mental health problems, had left New Yorkers unnerved and divided, the verdict quickly became yet another flashpoint in the nation’s debate over how best to address issues of crime and justice, homelessness and mental illness.

Again the reporters purported to pit “Republican political figures” against real New Yorkers.

But in New York, some found the verdict deeply troubling….

The reporters didn’t even follow up on the relevant facts they raised: If the city knew Neely was a danger to either himself or others, why was he still roaming free?

Some residents saw Mr. Neely as the embodiment of a system that had broken down, letting vulnerable people slip through the cracks. Mr. Neely was on a city list informally known as the Top 50, a small number of people in a city of eight million who stand out for the severity of their troubles and their resistance to accepting help.

For others, it was emblematic of a string of high-profile crimes on the city’s subways, many involving homeless and mentally ill people, and evidence of the city’s inability to keep residents safe….