The trial of Daniel Penny continued today and during cross examination the defense showed police body camera footage of two witnesses who testified that they were very afraid of Jordan Neely that day and grateful when Penny intervened. The first was a woman named Alethea Gittings:

"He said, 'I'm willing to die, I'm willing to die,'" another woman says.

In another video, that same woman says, "He scared the living daylights out of everybody."

That witness told the jury she's been riding the subway for over 50 years and has been threatened before, but this was the first time she was actually scared. She described Neely as resisting when Penny put Neely in a chokehold to restrain him...

She also said she went over to thank Penny after.

The other witness was a woman named Lori Sitro who was on the train with her young child.

Another woman on the train with her 5-year-old son told the jury, "I've taken the subway for over 30 years and I've seen a lot of unstable people and this felt different to me."

She demonstrated for the jury how she saw Neely lunging at people. The witness said when Penny took Neely to the ground, "I felt very relieved because I was scared for my son."

This followed previous testimony from yet another woman who said Neely's rant left her feeling afraid she was gong to die.

[Caedryn] Schrunk said she was on her way to a coffee shop near the Broadway-Lafayette station when she smelled a strong scent and saw Neely walking toward her, “absolutely screaming, gesturing with his hands.”

She said she rides the subway every day and sometimes moves to another part of the train or gets off at the next stop when she feels uncomfortable. But in this case, she said, the doors were closed, it was hot and no one was moving.

“I’ve never seen a human in that state,” she said...

“I truly believed that I was going to die in that moment,” she testified.

When Penny’s defense attorney, Thomas Kenniff, asked Schrunk if she remembered Neely threatening to kill, she said “yes.”

There was one witness who disagreed with the others. Johnny Grima is a former homeless person who is now some sort of homeless activist. He said he wished he'd intervened to save Neely and repeatedly referred to Penny as a "murderer."

Grima was riding the subway home after checking on homeless people in Tompkins Square Park. He had just gotten off when he saw Penny releasing his grip on Neely.

"He finally did let him go," Grima said. "Neely fell limply to the ground."...

Grima explained that he intervened to say that Neely should be put on his side before pouring water on his head in an attempt to wake him up.

"Daniel Penny came and told me to stop when I did that," Grima said.

Yesterday, after the jury was dismissed, the defense asked the judge to dismiss the trial, saying that it was impossible for Penny to get a fair trial after prosecutors repeatedly referred to Penny as the "white man" and after Grima called him a "murderer." The judge denied the request.