The man accused of shooting 10 people on a Brooklyn subway train was arrested on Wednesday and charged with a federal terrorism offense after the suspect called police to come get him, US law enforcement officials said.
Frank James, 62, was taken into custody about 30 hours after the violence on a rush-hour train, which left people around the city on edge.
“My fellow New Yorkers, we got him,” New York Mayor Eric Adams said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
James was due to appear in court yesterday on a charge that pertains to terrorist or other violent attacks against mass transit systems and carries a sentence of up to life in prison, Brooklyn US Attorney Breon Peace said.
In the past few months, James railed in videos on his YouTube channel about racism and violence in the US, and about his struggles with mental healthcare in New York City.
“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,” James says in a video, in which he takes on the moniker “Prophet of Doom.”
However, the motive for the subway attack remains unclear, and there is no indication that James had ties to terror organizations, international or otherwise, Peace said.
James did not respond to reporters’ shouted questions as he was led to a police vehicle on Wednesday.
He was transferred hours later to the custody of the US Bureau of Prisons and was being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
A message seeking comment was sent to a lawyer representing him.
Police had urged the public to help find him, releasing his name and photograph, and even sending a cellphone alert before they got a tip on Wednesday.
The tipster was James, calling to say he knew he was wanted and that police could find him at a McDonald’s restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village neighborhood, two law enforcement officials said.
They were not authorized to discuss the ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.
James was gone when officers arrived, but he was soon spotted on a busy corner nearby, Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said.
Passerby Aleksei Korobow said he saw four police vehicles zoom past and when he caught up to them, James was in handcuffs as a crowd of people looked on.
“There was nowhere left for him to run,” police commissioner Keechant Sewell said.
Yemen’s separatist leader has vowed to keep working for an independent state in the country’s south, in his first social media post since he disappeared earlier this month after his group briefly seized swathes of territory. Aidarous al-Zubaidi’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces last month captured two Yemeni provinces in an offensive that was rolled back by Saudi strikes and Riyadh’s allied forces on the ground. Al-Zubaidi then disappeared after he failed to board a flight to Riyadh for talks earlier this month, with Saudi Arabia accusing him of fleeing to Abu Dhabi, while supporters insisted he was
‘SHOCK TACTIC’: The dismissal of Yang mirrors past cases such as Jang Song-thaek, Kim’s uncle, who was executed after being accused of plotting to overthrow his nephew North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has fired his vice premier, compared him to a goat and railed against “incompetent” officials, state media reported yesterday, in a rare and very public broadside against apparatchiks at the opening of a critical factory. Vice Premier Yang Sung-ho was sacked “on the spot,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency said, in a speech in which Kim attacked “irresponsible, rude and incompetent leading officials.” “Please, comrade vice premier, resign by yourself when you can do it on your own before it is too late,” Kim reportedly said. “He is ineligible for an important duty. Put simply, it was
The Chinese Embassy in Manila yesterday said it has filed a diplomatic protest against a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman over a social media post that included cartoonish images of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela and an embassy official had been trading barbs since last week over issues concerning the disputed South China Sea. The crucial waterway, which Beijing claims historic rights to despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, has been the site of repeated clashes between Chinese and Philippine vessels. Tarriela’s Facebook post on Wednesday included a photo of him giving a
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday announced a deal with the chief of Kurdish-led forces that includes a ceasefire, after government troops advanced across Kurdish-held areas of the country’s north and east. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he had agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa on Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement would also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on
RSS