By MICHAEL R. SISAK, MICHAEL BALSAMO and JENNIFER PELTZ
NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of capturing 10 folks on a Brooklyn subway practice was arrested Wednesday and charged with a federal terrorism offense after the suspect himself referred to as police to come back get him, legislation enforcement officers stated.
Frank R. James, 62, was taken into custody about 30 hours after the carnage on a rush-hour practice, which left 5 victims in vital situation and folks across the metropolis on edge.
“My fellow New Yorkers, we got him,” Mayor Eric Adams stated.
James was awaiting arraignment on a cost that pertains to terrorist or different violent assaults towards mass transit programs and carries a sentence of as much as life in jail, Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace stated.
In latest months, James railed in on-line movies about racism and violence within the U.S. and about his experiences with psychological well being care in New York City, and he had criticized Adams’ insurance policies on psychological well being and subway security. But the motive for the subway assault stays unclear, and there’s no indication that James had ties to terror organizations, worldwide or in any other case, Peace stated.
It wasn’t instantly clear whether or not James, who’s from New York however has lived lately in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, has an lawyer or anybody else who can converse for him. An indication taped to the door of James’ Milwaukee condo asks that every one mail be delivered to a submit workplace field.
James, in a blue t-shirt and brown pants together with his palms cuffed behind his again, didn’t reply to reporters shouting questions as police escorted him to a automobile a couple of hours after his arrest.
Police had launched an enormous effort to seek out him, releasing his title and issuing cellphone alerts.
They obtained a tip Wednesday that he was in a McDonald’s in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, Chief of Department Kenneth Corey stated.
The tipster was James, and he instructed authorities to come back and get him, two legislation enforcement officers stated. They weren’t licensed to debate the continuing investigation and spoke on situation of anonymity.
James was gone when officers arrived, however they quickly noticed him on a busy nook close by.
Four police automobiles zoomed round a nook, officers leaped out and, quickly, a compliant James was in handcuffs as a crowd of individuals seemed on, witness Aleksei Korobow stated.
Police Commissioner Keechant Sewell stated authorities “were able to shrink his world quickly.”
“There was nowhere left for him to run,” she stated.
The day earlier than, James set off smoke grenades in a commuter-packed subway automobile after which fired a minimum of 33 photographs with a 9 mm handgun, police stated.
Police Chief of Detectives James Essig stated police had been instructed that after James opened one of many smoke grenades, a rider requested, “What did you do?”
“Oops,” James stated, then went on to brandish his gun and open hearth, in keeping with a witness account.
At least a dozen individuals who escaped gunshot wounds had been handled for smoke inhalation and different accidents.
As terrified riders fled the assault, James apparently hopped one other practice — the identical one many had been steered to for security, police stated. He obtained out on the subsequent station, disappearing into the nation’s most populous metropolis.
The shooter left behind quite a few clues, together with the gun, ammunition magazines, a hatchet, smoke grenades, gasoline and the important thing to a U-Haul van. That key led investigators to James.
Federal investigators decided the gun used within the capturing was bought by James at a pawn store — a licensed firearms seller — within the Columbus, Ohio, space in 2011.
The van was discovered, unoccupied, close to a station the place investigators decided the gunman had entered the subway system. No explosives or firearms had been discovered within the van, a legislation enforcement official who wasn’t licensed to touch upon the investigation and did so on the situation of anonymity instructed The Associated Press. Police did discover different gadgets, together with pillows, suggesting he might have been sleeping or deliberate to sleep within the van, the official stated.
Investigators imagine James drove up from Philadelphia on Monday and have reviewed surveillance video displaying a person matching his bodily description popping out of the van early Tuesday morning, the official stated. Other video reveals James getting into a subway station in Brooklyn with a big bag, the official stated.
In addition to analyzing monetary and phone information related to James, investigators had been reviewing hours of rambling, profanity-filled movies James posted on YouTube and different social media platforms as they tried to discern a motive.
In one video, posted a day earlier than the assault, James, who’s Black, criticizes crime towards Black folks and says drastic motion is required.
“You got kids going in here now taking machine guns and mowing down innocent people,” James says. “It’s not going to get better until we make it better,” he stated, including that he thought issues would solely change if sure folks had been “stomped, kicked and tortured” out of their “comfort zone.”
In one other video he says, “this nation was born in violence, it’s kept alive by violence or the threat thereof and it’s going to die a violent death. There’s nothing going to stop that.”
His posts are replete with violent language and bigoted feedback, some towards Black folks.
Sewell referred to as the posts “concerning” and officers tightened safety for Adams, who was already isolating following a constructive COVID-19 check Sunday.
Several of James’ movies point out New York’s subways. A Feb. 20 video says the mayor and governor’s plan to handle homelessness and security within the subway system “is doomed for failure” and refers to himself as a “victim” of the town’s psychological well being applications. A Jan. 25 video criticizes Adams’ plan to finish gun violence.
The Brooklyn subway station the place passengers fled the smoke-filled practice within the assault was open as normal Wednesday morning, lower than 24 hours after the violence.
Commuter Jude Jacques, who takes the D practice to his job as a hearth security director some two blocks from the capturing scene, stated he prays each morning however had a particular request on Wednesday.
“I said, ‘God, everything is in your hands,’” Jacques stated. “I was antsy, and you can imagine why. Everybody is scared because it just happened.”
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Balsamo reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Jim Mustian, Beatrice Dupuy, Karen Matthews, Julie Walker, Deepti Hajela, Michelle L. Price and David Porter in New York contributed to this report, and Michael Kunzelman contributed from College Park, Maryland.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”