Investigators are working to determine the motive of the suspect in the bloody shooting in the New York subway on Monday, in which 10 people were shot.
In his first appearance in federal court in Brooklyn, Judge Roanne Mann ordered Frank James to remain in jail without bail, while his attorney requested that he undergo a mental evaluation.
The prosecutor said the attack was premeditated, carefully planned and called it the most disturbing attack that occurred during the daily commute in the city in the last 20 years.
James, 62, will face a federal terrorism charge for attacking New York’s public transportation system, a charge for which he could face life in prison.
After an intense 30-hour search, James was arrested Wednesday without incident after an informant — believed by police to be himself — said he could be found near a McDonald’s in Manhattan.
Meanwhile, authorities work to piece together the details of what happened that day and the clues the suspect left earlier.
YOUTUBE, THE PLATFORM WHERE THE MOST LEFT TRACKS
An erratic work history. Arrests for various crimes, most minor. A locker with more bullets. And hours of confusing, bigoted, profanity-laced videos on his YouTube channel that hint at deep, seething anger.
“This nation was born of violence, it is kept alive by violence or the threat of violence, and it is going to die a violent death,” James says in a video dubbed the “prophet of doom.”
According to the police, an important source of evidence is his videos on YouTube. She seems to have an opinion on just about everything: racism in America, the new mayor, the state of mental health services, the September 11, 2001 attacks, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and black women.
A federal criminal complaint cited a video in which James criticizes too many homeless people on the subway and blames the mayor of New York City.
“What are you doing bro?” James said in a video posted on March 27. “Every car I entered was full of homeless people. It was so bad that he couldn’t even stand up.”
A video captured the moment when people left terrified.
HIS DISCOMFORT ABOUT THE TREATMENT OF BLACK PEOPLE
James also criticized the treatment of Black people in an April 6 video cited in the complaint, in which he says, “And so the message to me is: I should have had a gun and just started shooting.”
In a recording released a day before the attack, James rails against crimes against the African-American community, saying things will only change if certain people are “stomped on, kicked and tortured” outside of their “comfort zone.”
Security cameras spotted James entering at least the turnstiles Tuesday morning, dressed as a maintenance or construction worker in a yellow hard hat and an orange vest with reflective tape.
Police say other passengers only heard him say “oops” when he lit a smoke grenade in a crowded carriage as the train pulled into a station. He then lit a second smoke grenade and began firing, authorities added. Amid the smoke and chaos, police say James escaped by boarding an oncoming R train and getting off after the first stop.
Authorities confirmed that he was detained in New York.
LONG HISTORY OF ARRESTS
Investigators said James had 12 prior arrests in New York and New Jersey between 1990 and 2007. The nine prior arrests in New York City between 1992 and 1998 include robbery possession, criminal sexual act and theft of service.
In New Jersey, James has three other arrests in 1991, 1992 and 2007, including for breaking and entering, theft and disorderly conduct, police said during Wednesday’s news conference.
James had no felony convictions and was not prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm. Police said the gun used in the attack was purchased legally from an Ohio pawn shop in 2011. A close-up image of the gun he bought showed he tried to remove the serial number, investigators said. But agents used that number to trace the purchase back to him.
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