By Tiffany Williams –
Brooklyn subway terrorist, Frank James, 63, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, pleaded guiltily Tuesday to 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation vehicle, and one count of discharging a firearm in furtherance of his attack.
On the morning of April 12, 2022, law enforcement says “James used a Glock 17 pistol he legally purchased in Ohio to conduct a mass shooting on an N subway train in Brooklyn, New York.”
As part of his attack, law enforcement said “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.”
The smoke-emitting device, law enforcement said “Caused panicked passengers to scramble to one end of the subway car, allowing James to more easily shoot at his victims.”
In total, 10 victims were struck by the defendant’s bullets. Even more passengers suffered from smoke inhalation and other mental and physical injuries due to the James’s attack.
For James, the morning of April 12, 2022 was long in the planning. According to law enforcement James started planning his attack as early as 2017, when James first purchased items he would use in the 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.
James 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 searched his apartment and storage unit and 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 cannister.
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