Not very insistent by all accounts. There's a recording or one woman telling him to let go, and apparel one of the guys helping to hold Neely down said something about Penny letting go of his neck. But again, the key issue is how much easier it is to sit here and rationalise his actions in the cold light of day.

I guarantee you, if you found yourself fighting with somebody who you thought might kill you or others, you'd be a lot less precise about what you know about chokeholds.

And yes it would have been great of somebody had stepped in when they saw Penny holding onto the choke. But that goes back to the original point. Most people don't get involved.