“A man was arrested 72 times, 72 times, think of that,” he said. “And they’ll let him out again, the liberal judges will let him out again.”
President Donald Trump on Tuesday referenced last week’s Blue Line train attack in Chicago while delivering remarks at the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning. “We saw all the crime that took place last night, the night before,” Trump said. “The woman with the burning, they burned the woman. They burned this beautiful woman riding in a train.”
“A man was arrested 72 times, 72 times, think of that,” he said. “And they’ll let him out again, the liberal judges will let him out again," Trump said.
He said Chicago could be stabilized quickly if state officials requested federal assistance. “We could make Chicago a safe city in a period of four weeks,” Trump said. “Eight weeks, nine weeks, ten weeks, it would be totally safe. And the people of Chicago want us to go there.”
Trump criticized local leadership, saying, “The mayor is incompetent, and the governor is a big, fat slob. He ought to invite us in, say, please make Chicago safe.”
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View on XThe attack cited by Trump occurred Nov. 20 on a CTA Blue Line train near the Clark/Lake station. Federal prosecutors charged 50-year-old Lawrence Reed with committing a terrorist attack or act of violence on mass transportation. Investigators say Reed used gasoline and a lighter to ignite 26-year-old Bethany MaGee while she was riding the train.
Court transcripts show Cook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez approved Reed’s release in August over objections from prosecutors. During the Aug. 22 hearing, Assistant State’s Attorney Jerrilyn Gumila said Reed posed “a real and present threat” and warned that electronic monitoring “could not protect the victim or the community from another vicious, random, and spontaneous attack.”
Gumila detailed an incident three days earlier at MacNeal Hospital in which Reed allegedly struck a social worker inside a locked psychiatric unit, leaving the worker with a concussion, chipped tooth, corneal abrasion, and potential optic nerve injury.
Prosecutors also noted Reed’s prior felony convictions, including a 2020 arson at the Thompson Center. A pretrial officer reported that Reed triggered a “new violent criminal activity flag” and rated four out of six on risk of reoffending.
Molina-Gonzalez declined to detain him, saying, “I can’t keep everybody in jail because the State’s Attorney wants me to.” She placed Reed on electronic monitoring and granted 40 hours per week outside the home, later expanded for church activities.
Prosecutors say Monday’s attack occurred outside his permitted release hours.
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