An online legal defense fund started by attorneys has raised almost $ 2.5 million for an ex-Marine known as the New York “subway killer” who is charged in the May 1 killing of Jordan Neely, a homeless man with mental health issues.

Donations have risen to $2.497 million with pledges from thousands of people to pay legal fees for Daniel Penney, who was captured on video on a Manhattan subway train pinning Neely in a minutes-long chokehold.

Conservatives hail Penny, a 24-year-old Marine Corps veteran, as a hero and good Samaritan for killing the homeless man, Washington Post reported. Others denounced him as a vigilante. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called him a “murderer” and multiple media outlets called him the “subway killer.”

Witnesses said Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator, was acting erratically on the train, allegedly throwing trash and yelling at passengers when Penny stopped him by choking him to death. The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner listed Neely’s death as a homicide.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office charged him with second-degree manslaughter.

However, the subway killer has seen an upwelling of financial and online support from high-profile Republicans such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Fox News personalities.

Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz called Penny a “subway superman.” Charlie Kirk, who runs the conservative student group Turning Point USA, and Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis also showed support.

Penny’s New York voter registration in 2016 listed his party affiliation as “Conservative.” His embrace by the right is an attempt to take the legal case against him out of the courtroom and onto TV, social media and the fundraising circuit, experts told The Washington Post.

“Penny’s case has been injected into the bloodstream of partisan politics,” said Matt Dallek, a professor of political management at George Washington University. “A lot of conservatives can point to vigilantes like him and say, ‘They’re standing between us and the mob.’ It fits into a political narrative, and people like Penny are appropriated, whether they want to be or not.”

Conservative commentators also hailed Kyle Rittenhouse a hero after the 17-year-old from Antioch, Ill., shot three men, two of them fatally, during demonstrations in Kenosha, Wis., in 2020. Trump met with him after he was acquitted of murder and called him “a nice young man.”

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he plans to pardon Daniel Perry, an Army sergeant sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting an armed man during a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin.

Penny has become symbolic of a “macho” and “tough, take-action, hold-your-ground” ethos that appeals to a conservative segment of the country, said Douglas Muzzio, a political science professor at Baruch College.

The charges against Penny are happening in an atmosphere of extreme racial polarization, Muzzio said. “It’s symptomatic of our times — the split between red and blue, the split between Black and white.”

Jumaane Williams, New York’s public advocate, said, “If the violence can be linked to Black people or people who have melanated skin, they go even harder.”

Praise for Penny is “depressing,” said Gabriel Murphy, an engineer who served in the Marines from 2006 to 2010 and started a petition calling for charges against Penny, saying he had misused the chokehold.

People have a picture of the military in their minds, Murhoy said, according to the New York Times. “They’re cheering on that mental picture — that every Marine is a bloodthirsty killer who is waiting to enact righteous violence … I don’t think what he did was OK, and I don’t think it’s in line with anything the Marine Corps teaches.”

An anonymous donor donated $20 and said, “Choke out the system bro!” The Pace family gave

The Pace family gave $5,000 and said “You protected citizens… Thank you for you service and giving us all freedom.”

Photos: Right, from right, attorney Donte Mills; Jordan Neely’s father, Andre Zachery; attorney Lennon Edwards; and Neely’s aunt Mildred Mahazu at a news conference in New York City, May 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey) / Daniel Penny appeared in court hours after turning himself in in connection with the death of Jordan Neely. (AP Photo/Jeenah Moon)