Frank James, the primary suspect in Tuesday’s subway shooting in New York City that left 29 injured, has been taken into custody and indicted on a federal terrorism charge, officials announced on Wednesday.
James was arrested at the corner of St. Mark’s Place and 1st Ave. in the East Village of Manhattan, NYPD commissioner Keeshant Sewell said at a press conference with city and law enforcement officials. Mayor Eric Adams joined via video conference from his residence, where he is quarantined after testing positive for Covid.
“My fellow New Yorkers: we got him. We got him,” Adams told the conference.
NYPD chief of detectives James Essig said James has nine prior arrests in New York between 1992 and 1998, as well as other arrests in New Jersey. Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said James has been charged with one federal charge of violating a law banning terrorist attacks on mass transit.
Spectrum News said it obtained video of the arrest:
Video obtained by NY1 shows the arrest made by NYPD in the subway shooting case Wednesday. pic.twitter.com/HR2CjXhtes
— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) April 13, 2022
James, 62, allegedly set off smoke bombs and fired at passengers in an N train while it pulled into the 36th Street subway station in Brooklyn. Ten people were shot, while 19 others were injured in the ensuing commotion. No one was killed in the incident.
The shooting drew condemnation from New York city and state politicians.
“I’m committing the full resources of our state to fight this surge of crime, this insanity that is seizing our city because we want to get back to normal. It has been a long, hard two years,” New York governor Kathy Hochul said at a Tuesday press conference outside the 36th Street station.
“We’re going to catch this person,” Adams told CNN on Tuesday. “We’re going to bring him to justice and hold him responsible for this horrific act on innocent people that are utilizing our subway system.”
James, a Philadelphia native, made a series of videos in which he rants about race, violence, mental health, and other subjects and uploaded them to a YouTube channel. Law enforcement officials told the New York Times that the channel, “prophetoftruth88,” broadcasted videos featuring James.
In one video, James claimed that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a precursor to a race war.
“These white motherf***ers, this is what they do,” James said. “Ultimately at the end of the day they kill and commit genocide against each other. What do you think they gonna do to your black ass?”