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Man Charged With Terrorism After Allegedly Setting Woman on Fire on Chicago Train
Chicago resident Lawrence Reed has been charged with terrorism after he allegedly set a woman on fire on a Chicago train.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois announced on Wednesday, November 19 that Reed, 50, has been charged with “committing a terrorist attack against a mass transportation system.”
It was initially reported that police believed the suspect and victim got into an argument which led to the victim being set on fire. However, the office’s statement did not mention an argument taking place at the time of the incident.
“The charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of life in federal prison,” the statement continued.
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Additionally, the statement said that Reed was scheduled to make an initial court appearance on November 19 in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura K. McNally.
The attack took place around 9:30 p.m. on Monday, November 17 while the 26-year-old victim was riding a CTA Blue Line train near the Clark and Lake station in the city’s Loop district.
Police believe that Reed approached the woman as she was seated and her back was turned toward him. The complaint stated that he then “took the cap off a bottle of liquid and poured the liquid all over the victim’s head and body.”
The victim reportedly tried to run away, though police said Reed caught up with her and ignited the bottle. He then dropped the bottle before he picked it up, approached the victim and used it to light her on fire.
The woman, who has not been publicly named, was taken to the hospital and has been left with “critical injuries” as a result of the attack, per prosecutors.
“This horrific attack was not just a barbaric assault on an innocent woman riding a train, but an act of terrorism that strikes at the core of our American way of life,” Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosive, said in a statement.
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“The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, together with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, will take immediate and resolute action to bring swift justice to the victim while safeguarding the public as well as the fabric of our society.”
Following the incident, one witness opened up to Fox Chicago about seeing the woman set on fire. “Just seeing her lying on the ground, and she was kind of hyperventilating and in a lot of pain,” they said. “You could tell she was in really bad shape. All the medics were down there, and there was a big turnout as far as responders and so forth.”
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