Frank R. James, who federal prosecutors said carried out a violent and well-planned attack on the New York subway system this week, was ordered to be detained without bail Thursday during his first appearance in federal court. His lawyers asked a judge to ensure that Mr James received psychiatric care in prison, and later said that their client had called the hotline to surrender.
Mr James’s brief initial appearance in court marked a new stage in a case that shocked a city that is already on the brink of crime and security. It was the bloodiest crime in the city’s public transportation system in nearly four decades, and came when many New Yorkers trembled back to the routines of life before the pandemic.
Prosecutors say Mr James detonated a smoke bomb in a crowded subway car, then dropped a stream of bullets into the crowd, turning a morning commute to a scene of bloody chaos. At least 30 people were injured, according to the federal prosecutor’s office.
“The accused opened fire terribly on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their morning journey in a way the city has not seen in more than 20 years,” Sarah K. Winnick, an aide to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, told the court on Thursday. “The defendant’s attack was intentional; it was carefully planned; and caused terror among the victims and our whole city. “
Mr James has been accused of carrying out a terrorist attack on a public transport system and faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Federal prosecutors demanded that Mr. James be detained pending trial, arguing that his “mere presence outside federal arrest poses a serious risk to the community.”
Mr James ‘lawyers said they did not object to Mr James’ detention, but asked the magistrate to ensure that he received a psychiatric evaluation and other medical care at the Brooklyn detention center where he was detained.
In brief comments in court and in a file earlier Thursday, federal prosecutors painted a non-law-abiding man who carefully planned every step of the attack – including his plan to avoid capture.
Prosecutors said in their file that Mr James entered the subway on Tuesday morning in disguise, wearing a yellow helmet and an orange work jacket with a reflective stripe. On the train as it approached 36th Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, he fired “approximately 33 rounds in cold blood at terrified passengers who had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide,” federal prosecutors wrote, adding that the shooting may have been eventually ended in slaughter.
In front of the courthouse on Thursday, Mia Eisner-Greenberg, a court-appointed lawyer for Mr James, said her client deserved a fair trial, warning that “initial reports” from police and news outlets “may be inaccurate”.
“We are all still learning what happened on this train and we warn not to rush the verdict,” she said. “What we do know is this: yesterday, Mr James saw a picture of him in the news. He called Crime Stoppers for help. He told them where he was. “
Federal prosecutors wrote in a note that while Mr James’s lengthy arrest file – nearly a dozen low-level crimes, including reckless intimidation, theft and crime – may seem “invisible”, it paints a picture of a person prone to opposes authority and who is unable or unwilling to comply with the law. “
Although the general details of Tuesday morning’s attack are well established, prosecutors have not described a potential motive for what they believe Mr James did, although the criminal complaint notes that Mr James posted videos on social media. media recording fierce complaints in a wide variety of topics.
It also remains unclear why a train line that crosses neighborhoods with many immigrants in Brooklyn, such as Sunset Park, home to immigrants from many Asian and Latin American countries, has become the target of brutal shootings. And he wasn’t sure what Mr. James had done between the time of the attack and his capture the next day.
In the hours after the shooting, police found a collection of items on the train, including a 9mm Glock pistol, three ammunition stores and a credit card in Mr James’ name. They also found ammunition and other weapons in a warehouse and apartment rented by Mr James, prosecutors said.
He was arrested by authorities on Wednesday afternoon, near McDonald’s in the East Village, about 29 hours after a large-scale search involving several federal and state agencies and hundreds of officers. The arrest was carried out without a fight, as a flood of calls, videos and tweets poured in from New Yorkers who said they helped identify him or spotted him before his arrest.
Michael Gold and Sean Piccoli contributed to the reports.
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