NEW YORK CITY
Frank James, 63, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, plead guilty Tuesday to 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack during rush hour in an NYC subway this year.
James plead guilty to one count for each gunshot victim – and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of his attack.
The incident occurred during rush hour on April 12, 2022, on the New York City subway in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
(News report April 2020)
According to court documents, James used a Glock 17 pistol he legally purchased in Ohio to conduct a mass shooting on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York.
As part of his attack, James – disguised in an orange reflective jacket and yellow hard hat to look like a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) employee – set off a smoke-emitting device in a subway car before opening fire on his captive victims.
(News report 2020)
The smoke-emitting device caused panicked passengers to scramble to one end of the subway car, allowing James to shoot at his victims, according to the evidence easily.
In total, ten victims were struck by the defendant’s bullets. Even more, passengers suffered from smoke inhalation and other mental and physical injuries due to the defendant’s attack.
“On the morning of April 12, 2022, Frank James cold-bloodedly shot innocent New Yorkers traveling on the subway in Brooklyn and brought terror to our great city. James’s crimes of violence have been met with swift justice,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York.
Adding, “James’s admission of guilt to all eleven counts of the superseding indictment acknowledges the terror and pain he caused. This guilty plea is an important step towards holding James fully accountable and helping the victims of the defendant’s violence and our great city heal.”
The investigation reflects that the attack was the culmination of substantial planning.
Beginning as early as 2017, James began purchasing items he could use in an attack, including smoke grenades, ammunition, weapons, and his disguise.
In the months leading up to his attack, James conducted web searches for “MTA,” “New York,” “transit,” “stops on the N train,” and “311 kings highway brooklyn ny,” which is near where James parked his rented U-Haul van before entering the subway, officials stated.
The defendant also recorded and posted videos online foreshadowing his plans, including stating that “if you hear the name Frank James on the news, if something happens to a Frank James that’s sixty-something years old, chances are that’s me.”
Following James’s attack, law enforcement officers searched James’s apartment and storage unit.
They uncovered a stockpile of weapons, including, among other items, 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 canister.
James is facing up to life in prison.
The FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which principally consists of agents from the FBI and detectives from the NYPD, are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ian C. Richardson, Sara K. Winik, and Ellen H. Sise for the Eastern District of New York are prosecuting the case.