11/21/2025

Federal Judge Orders Man Held on Federal Terrorism Charge in Chicago Train Attack

The man allegedly set a woman on fire inside a commuter train this week

A man accused of setting a woman on fire inside a Chicago commuter train has a decades long criminal history and was on court-ordered electronic monitoring in an unrelated battery case at the time of the unprovoked attack, prosecutors said Friday.

The detail revealed in Friday’s hearing confirmed a variety of court and law enforcement records dating back more than 30 years that detail 50-year-old Lawrence Reed’s frequent contact with police in and around Chicago. A judge agreed Friday to keep Reed in jail pending trial on a federal terrorism charge he faces in the train attack.

The attack Monday night on Chicago's Blue Line L train has garnered national attention and drawn comparisons to the apparent random attack in August that saw another woman stabbed to death on a commuter train in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the Chicago attack, investigators say the victim was sitting on the train scrolling through her phone when she was approached from behind by Reed, doused with gasoline and set ablaze seconds later.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.