{"id":61099,"date":"2025-11-19T23:51:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T23:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/61099\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T23:51:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T23:51:08","slug":"repeat-offender-set-woman-on-fire-aboard-chicago-train-charged-with-domestic-terrorism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/61099\/","title":{"rendered":"Repeat offender set woman on fire aboard Chicago train charged with domestic terrorism"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (TNND) \u2014 A man accused of setting a 26-year-old woman on fire<\/a> aboard a Chicago Transit Authority<\/a> (CTA) train was charged with domestic terrorism, according to officials. <\/p>\n

The man was identified as Lawrence Reed, 50, of Chicago, who authorities said has a “very long and extensive criminal history.” <\/p>\n

Andrew Boutros, who is the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, described it as a “brutal and vicious attack.” <\/p>\n

Woman set on fire during argument on Chicago train, police say (Video: CNN Newsource via WLS) <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The victim was riding northbound approaching the Clark and Lake subway stop in the Loop, minding her own business and reading her phone when the defendant doused her with gasoline and lit her on fire,” Boutros said on Wednesday during a news conference streamed by WBBM<\/a>. “The surveillance video is difficult to watch. It is very disturbing.”<\/p>\n

He said the footage shows the woman struggling while other passengers “got out of the way” and watched. <\/p>\n

Even as she was rolling around, desperately trying to put out the fire, no one came to her aid until she was able to get off the train and to the platform,” Boutros said.<\/p>\n

When the train stopped and the woman stumbled onto the platform, he said two good Samaritans put out the flames. <\/p>\n

She remains in critical condition and we pray for the victim’s recovery,” Boutros said.<\/p>\n

Boutros said Reed was charged with a federal count of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system.<\/p>\n

\"Woman<\/p>\n

Woman set on fire during argument on Chicago train, police say (Video: CNN Newsource via WLS){ } – 3a094970-48dc-46e3-bb7f-c96c022c7a11.png<\/p>\n

Christopher Amon, who is the Special Agent in Charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Chicago Field Division (ATF), condemned the attack. He called it an unimaginable tragedy. <\/p>\n

As the charges made clear today, violence of any kind on the CTA rail system or in our city is unacceptable and will continue to be met with the full force of the ATF, our law enforcement partners, and the United States Attorney’s Office,” Amon said, also praising the Chicago Police Department (CPD) for their quick response to the scene.<\/p>\n

He added that Reed “had no business being on streets” due to his violent criminal history with the law. <\/p>\n

Reed had plenty of second chances by the criminal justice system,” Amon said. “As a result, you have an innocent victim in the hospital fighting for her life. Because of the swift action of the CPD, ATF, and our law enforcement partners, there will be no more chances for Mr. Reed.”<\/p>\n

The attack occurred on Monday shortly before 9:30 p.m. while the woman was riding a CTA Blue Line train, according to Boutros. <\/p>\n

While multiple media outlets reported that there was an argument leading up to the incident, Boutros said the reports are inaccurate and false. <\/p>\n

Comment with Bubbles<\/p>\n

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Boutros said Reed’s detention hearing is set for Friday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO (TNND) \u2014 A man accused of setting a 26-year-old woman on fire aboard a Chicago Transit Authority…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-61099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}