Brooklyn shooting update: Frank James ordered to be held behind bars in first federal court appearance
James, 62, is charged with terrorism on a mass transportation system over Tuesday’s Brooklyn subway attack
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Suspected terrorist Frank James appeared in Brooklyn federal court for the first time on Thursday where a judge ordered him to be held behind bars until his trial and his lawyers requested he undergo a psychological exam.
Mr James, 62, is charged with terrorism on a mass transportation system over Tuesday’s Brooklyn subway attack where he allegedly shot 10 people before going on the run for 30 hours.
The suspect was finally arrested in Manhattan’s East Village on Wednesday afternoon when he called CrimeStoppers himself to tell police he was at a nearby McDonald’s.
Officers descended on the fast food joint to find him gone, before taking him into custody nearby along St. Mark’s Place and First Avenue.
Mr James is accused of injuring around 30 people in Tuesday morning’s rush hour attack in Sunset Park.
The gunman donned a gas mask on a packed N train travelling to Manhattan and opened a gas canister, before opening fire as the train travelled into 36 Street station.
His motive remains unclear but disturbing YouTube videos show Mr James ranting about Mayor Eric Adams, the subway system and NYC’s mental health system.
Watch: Biden praises hero NYC commuters
“We’re grateful for all the first responders who jumped into action, including civilians who didn’t hesitate to help their fellow passengers and tried to shield them” - Joe Biden.
Marjorie Taylor Greene bizarrely uses Brooklyn subway shooting to argue against gun control
Marjorie Taylor Greene blamed gun control for preventing Brooklyn subway victims from defending themselves against an active shooter.
The Republican congresswoman used the shooting to argue against gun laws after the attack left at least 29 people injured.
“With New York’s strict gun control laws, how many innocent people were carrying a gun when the bad guy with a gun broke the existing laws and started shooting people?” she said in a tweet.
“Bad guys don’t care about gun control and gun control only stops people from being able to protect themselves.”
Read full report
Marjorie Taylor Greene uses Brooklyn subway shooting to argue against gun control
Marjorie Taylor Greene blamed gun control for preventing Brooklyn subway victims from defending themselves against an active shooter.
Brooklyn subway suspect Frank James wanted ‘more mass shootings’ but was afraid of prison
In one of the videos posted on his YouTube channel, Frank James expressed his disdain for African-Americans, what he called “slave culture”, and his desire to see more mass shootings.
“There has to be more mass shootings to make a n***er understand… it’s not about the shooter, it’s about the environment in which he is, he has to exist.”
His account was terminated on Wednesday for “violating Community Guidelines” that had more than 400 posts to his YouTube account Prophet of Truth 88.
In an expletive-filled clip posted just a day before the attacks titled DOMESTICATED AVERAGES, Mr James spoke about how he identified with those who committed acts of extreme violence.
“I’ve been through a lot of s***, where I can say I wanted to kill people. I wanted to watch people die right in front of my f***ing face immediately. But I thought about the fact that, hey man, I don’t want to go to no f***ing prison.”
Mayor Eric Adams shifts blame to YouTube, Facebook for not reporting videos
When getting pressed by CNN about why it took authorities as long as it did to apprehend Frank James, New York Mayor Eric Adams responded by shifting the blame to social media companies who, he argued, should’ve done a better job reporting the 62-year-old’s YouTube and Facebook videos, many of them containing extended rants where expressed racist and derogatory views.
“I cannot play a song on a social media channel that belongs to someone else without them identifying that. Why aren’t we identifying these dangerous threats?” the mayor said in response to CNN on Wednesday morning.
“There is some responsibility, I think, on social media industries and companies,” he said, before adding that “we” should interrogate “why we’re watching these postings and these threats every day, and no one is giving an early warning sign to law enforcement.”
The 62-year-old’s YouTube channel included hundreds of videos, including ones that showed him complaining about unhoused people on the city’s subway and had even criticised the mayor’s own policies.
Syrian man captures hearts explaining how he aided in the capture of Brooklyn subway suspect
A 21-year-old security camera technician has become an unlikely hero.
Zach Tahhan, a Syrian-born man who moved to the United States five years ago, regaled in an impromptu press conference on Wednesday how he helped spot and report suspected Brooklyn subway shooter Frank James to police after he spotted the man on one of the security cameras at the convenience store he was working at in the East Village.
“I thought, ‘Oh my god, this is the guy, we need to get him.’ He was walking down the street, I see the car of the police, I said, ‘Yo, this is the guy!’” Mr Tahhan told the engrossed group of reporters.
The man’s tale has warmed the hearts of the city and has lead to the hashtags #Thankyouzack and #thankyouZackTahhan to begin trending on Twitter.
Read the full story from The Independent’s Stuti Mishra here.
21-year-old Syrian man explains how he helped catch Brooklyn subway shooter
Frank James will face federal terror charges over Tuesday’s attack on subway riders
Frank James to appear in Brooklyn federal court today
Subway shooting suspect Frank James is scheduled to appear in Brooklyn federal court for the first time today to face charges over Tuesday’s mass shooting.
Mr James will be arraigned on at least one count of violating a law that prohibits terrorist and other violent attacks on a mass transportation system.
If convicted, he faces life in prison.
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a press conference Wednesday following the alleged gunman’s arrest that Mr James crossed state lines - and brought weapons with him - to carry out an act of terror and “with the intent to cause death and serious bodily injury to passengers and MTA employees on the New York City subway systemon New York City’s subway system”.
The time of the initial court appearance will be confirmed on Thursday morning.
What do we know about the victims?
In Tuesday’s horror subway attack, ten people were shot and at least 19 others were hospitalised with injuries ranging from shrapnel wounds to smoke inhalation.
Of the 29, all suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to survive.
As of Wednesday, nine people remained in hospital in a stable condition.
Many of the victims were children and teenagers on their way to a day of school.
The youngest is just 12 years old while 13,15, 16 and 18 year olds were also injured.
The 16-year-old was shot in the leg and hand and was still recovering in hospital on Wednesday.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had spoken to the teenager’s mother who was very anxious about her son’s wellbeing.
“His mother does not speak English, she is Chinese. She is there alone, and it was so sad to hear through a translator her anxiety. All she has is her son,” said the governor.
Another victim was a pregnant 28-year-old woman who received treatment for a knee injury and smoke inhalation.
Hourari Benkada, another victim who was shot in the leg, spoke from his hospital bed about trying to help the pregnant woman to safety.
“All you see is smoke, black smoke bomb going off, and then people bum-rushing to the back,” he said.
“This pregnant woman was in front of me, I was trying to help her. I didn’t know there were shots at first, I just thought it was a black smoke bomb. She said, ‘I’m pregnant with a baby.’
“I hugged her, and then the bum-rush continued. I got pushed, and that’s when I got shot in the back of my knee.”
Ex-convict says he was ‘afraid’ to talk to ‘quiet and moody’ Frank James in group therapy session
An ex-convict who says he attended group therapy with Frank James has described how he was “afraid” to talk to the “quiet and moody” suspected terrorist in the sessions.
Albert Wilder, 57, told the New York Post that he last saw the suspect about three months ago during sessions at the Argus Community headquarters in the Bronx.
Mr Wilder said that Mr James “was sitting here and he was quiet and moody”.
“Y’know, when someone looks like they’re in the middle of something and you afraid to talk to them because they’re upset. That was him!” he told the Post.
Mr Wilder also described the 62-year-old as a “street person” who frequented trains and buses and was always around 219th and 230th street in the Bronx.
The Argus Community “provides on-going and continuously improving methods of treatments and preventions that restore the lives of many undeserved New York families, men, women and adolescents who come through our doors each year,” according to its website.
Among a trove of 400 videos posted on his now-removed YouTube page, Mr James ranted about New York City’s mental health system.
“Mr Mayor, I’m a victim of your mental health program,” he said in one video, directing his anger towards Mayor Eric Adams.
Suspect is refusing to speak to police
Suspected terrorist Frank James is refusing to speak to police about Tuesday’s rush hour mass shooting that left dozens injured in the heart of Brooklyn, according to a report.
CBS News reported that Mr James, 62, has made no statements to police since his arrest on Wednesday afternoon in the East Village of Manhattan.
The suspect is described as acting “calm” and “cool” in police custody.
Trove of weapons including AR-15 rifle, taser and ammunition found at addresses tied to suspect
A trove of weapons including an AR-15 rifle, a taser and ammunition have been found at addresses tied to suspected terrorist Frank James, according to a criminal complaint unsealed in Brooklyn federal court on Wednesday.
Mr James has been charged with terrorism on a mass transportation system over Tuesday’s rush hour subway attack in Sunset Park and will appear in court later today.
Following the attack, police executed search warrants for addresses linked to the suspect in Pennsylvania, the complaint says.
Among other items, agents recovered from the properties: 9mm ammunition; a threaded 9mm pistol barrel, which allows for a silencer or suppresser to be attached;.223 caliber ammunition, which is used with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle; a taser; a high-capacity rifle magazine; and a blue smoke cannister, the complaint says.
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