The ‘Daniel Penny effect’ that causes NYC watchers not to come in to help: critics

Critics are decrying the so-called “Daniel Penny effect” after several people and even police officers appeared to stand by helplessly when an innocent woman was burned to death on a subway car in New York City.

It is said that this horrible crime was committed by an illegal immigrant who went straight to this sleeping woman. Sources tell Fox News that the woman was not identified days after the shock because she was so badly burned.

Investigators also believe he was homeless and are working to track down any possible family members.

SANCTUARY CITY NEW YORK PUSHED TO MAKE BIG REFORMS AFTER LAW DEVELOPER ACCUSED OF BURNING WOMAN ALIVE.

Sources previously identified the person of interest to Fox News Digital as Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who has been charged with first and second degree murder, as well as arson.

Surveillance video of Sunday’s attack showed a suspect walking up to a woman, who was sitting motionless and possibly sleeping, as she boarded the F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station and setting her on fire.

It is also noted that the address Zapeta gave to the police is the same as that of the NYC Drug Abuse Support Center.

A resident of the shelter where Zapeta allegedly lived said Zapeta smoked K2, a synthetic marijuana containing many chemicals and drugs, “on a daily basis,” according to a New York Post report.

The man also said that Zapeta used to smoke, drink, and then “pass out”.

THE SUSPECT SUSPECTED OF BURNING TO DEATH A WOMAN IN A NYC POWER PLANT HAS BEEN DISMISSED BEFORE HE WAS HELPED BY THE LAW.

Sebastian Zapeta, accused of burning a woman inside a New York City subway, appears in court, Tuesday, December 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means by Pool)

Zapeta is a deported immigrant from Guatemala who was apprehended by the Border Patrol and deported by the Trump administration in June 2018 after landed illegally in Sonoita, Arizona, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Marie Ferguson previously told Fox News, adding that Zapeta later re-entered the US illegally.

Guardian Angels founder and local activist Curtis Sliwa told Fox News Digital that the latest act of violence in the New York-based subway is due to the “Daniel Penny effect.”

Sliwa explained the chaotic scene, according to witnesses, saying that no one was helping the woman, but people were recording the whole thing, but not cooperating with the law enforcement.

NYPD ARRESTS AN IMMIGRANT WHO SAID HE BURNED A WOMAN ON THE SUBWAY, SAW HER TO DEATH.

Daniel Penny arrives in Manhattan Supreme Court, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. Penny, a Marine veteran, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway. (Rashid Umar Abbasi of Fox News Digital)

“And I think that’s because of the negative effect that Daniel Penny’s situation has had on the whole city. It wasn’t a racial issue… but what I found is that people just don’t want to get involved,” Sliwa said.

“They don’t want to be admitted as I call it, which means, God does not allow you, you are dragged to court, you are persecuted, and you turn your life upside down.”

Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran, was found not guilty of negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely.

Penny was arrested in May 2023, about two weeks after being questioned and released following an encounter with Neely, who was high on drugs and threatening to kill people on the Manhattan F train when the 26-year-old architecture student grabbed him. headlock from behind.

Neely also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest and a lengthy criminal history at the time of his death. He had schizophrenia and a substance abuse problem.

Sliwa said this was similar to Neely’s case and sources said Zapeta was smoking up to $30 a day of K2, as well as drinking very cheap vodka, which he said was “a way to deal with the chaos.”

“No one took part, there were no police on that train. When the police responded. They didn’t do it quickly. And I think that as you go, you will see the citizens retreating,” explained Sliwa.

Retired NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro also looked into the incident and explained that a source told him there was a police officer looking for a firefighter and the police were responding quickly under the circumstances.

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“Look, you can’t fully cover the subway, no matter what anyone says. And with the size of the New York City subway system, the transit police do a good job,” Mauro said.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul was slammed on social media Sunday after touting how safe New York City’s subway system is thanks to his efforts, saying crime has dropped on the Big Apple’s subways since he deployed the National Guard in March.

The woman was burned alive in the subway that same day. Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul’s office but did not receive a response.

Fox News’ Alexis McAdams, Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Lorraine Taylor contributed to this report.