A former US Marine sergeant accused of fatally strangling a homeless man on a New York subway train last month has pleaded not guilty to charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
Daniel Penny, 24, was captured in videos recorded by bystanders putting Jordan Neely in a chokehold from behind for several minutes on 1 May, while they rode on the train in Manhattan.
The death drew national attention and sparked protests in May by those angered that police did not immediately arrest Mr Penny, who is white, following the death of Mr Neely, a black man.
Mr Penny was arrested more than a week later.
He first appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on 12 May, where he was released on a $100,000 (€91,743) bond and ordered to surrender his passport.
After that hearing, a grand jury voted to indict Mr Penny on 14 June on charges of manslaughter in the second degree, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison on conviction, and criminally negligent homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of five years.
The indictment was unsealed at today's arraignment, which lasted a few minutes.
Mr Penny pleaded not guilty and was told to return to court on 25 October for a pretrial hearing.
In the minutes before he was killed, Mr Neely, a 30-year-old former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled with mental illness, had been shouting about how hungry he was and that he was willing to return to jail or die, according to passengers in the subway car.
Mr Penny has said he acted to defend himself and other passengers, and did not intend to kill Mr Neely.
He has been hailed as a hero by prominent Republican politicians.
Protesters have decried Mr Penny as a vigilante and described Mr Neely's death as a lynching.
Mr Penny was questioned by police on the day of Mr Neely's death but would not be arrested and make an initial court appearance until 11 days later.
Witnesses have said Mr Neely did not physically threaten or attack anyone before Mr Penny grabbed him.
His killing renewed debate about gaps in the city's systems for homeless and mentally ill New Yorkers.
Mr Neely had been in and out of the city's homeless shelters in recent years, and his family say his mental health worsened dramatically after his mother was murdered when he was a teenager.
