Brooklyn subway shooting: Frank James indicted on terrorist charge by grand jury
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 13: Suspected subway shooter, Frank James is escorted out by the FBI and NYPD officers from the 9th Precinct after having been arrested for his role in the attack at the 36th St subway station in Brooklyn on April 13, 2020
NEW YORK (AP) - A federal grand jury has indicted a man suspected of shooting up a New York City subway train last month — an attack that wounded 10 people and rattled a city already experiencing a rise in violent crime.
The panel charged Frank James, 62, on Friday with committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system and discharging a firearm during a violent crime. Both counts carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. The weapons count has a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.
James was arrested on April 13, about 30 hours after authorities say he drove from Philadelphia and unleashed smoke bombs and dozens of bullets in a train full of morning commuters as it approached a Brooklyn station. The shooting victims ranged in age from 16 to 60; all were expected to survive.
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During a speech denouncing xenophobia in New York, Governor Kathy Hochul was handed an update, stating Brooklyn subway shooting suspect Frank James had been taken into custody. James is accused of opening fire on a Brooklyn subway train during rush hour, shooting ten and injuring more than a dozen others.
Authorities said James’s bank card, cellphone and a key to a van he had rented were found at the shooting scene. Police also said they found the handgun used in the shooting and traced it to James.
James is jailed without bail. An arraignment hasn’t yet been scheduled, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for New York’s Eastern District.
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A lawyer representing James at the time of his arrest cautioned not to rush to judgment and noted that James alerted police to his whereabouts. James was arrested in Manhattan’s East Village after he called a tip line saying he was at a fast food restaurant in that section of the city.
A motive for the attack is unclear. In numerous rants he posted on YouTube, James, who is Black, made bigoted remarks about people of various backgrounds and railed against New York Mayor Eric Adams and complained about mental health care he received in the city years ago.