Frank James’s Plan

On April 12th, around 8:30am on the Brooklyn subway, there was a shooting. This occurred on a northbound train. The criminal was a sixty two year old man named Frank James. Frank James set off a smoke bomb and fired thirty shots. There were twenty nine people injured because of this incident. 

According to ABC 7 NY, Frank James had been planning this attack. He believes the United States is full of racism, and in one of his YouTube videos he stated, “‘This nation was born in violence, it’s kept alive by violence or the threat thereof and it’s going to die a violent death,’ … ‘There’s nothing going to stop that.’” He had shared an intent to perform an act of violence, and harm others, and he displayed this through his YouTube videos. In multiple videos, he discussed the New York subway. 

He left behind a lot of evidence to prove that this was him. The items that he left, according to ABC NY were, “the gun, extended magazines, a hatchet, detonated and undetonated smoke grenades, a black garbage can, a rolling cart, gasoline and the key to a U-Haul van.” This helped the police focus on what to look for when looking at the security cameras. The key to the UHaul van was a big hint, because they were able to look at UHaul rentals at the time. They were also able to discover where the gun was bought.

He had rented the UHaul van in Philadelphia, and he was thought to have driven up to New York on Monday. They were able to find security footage to confirm this. Witnesses also helped with finding him, and his height was a big factor. He is six foot two, and the witnesses that reported to CBS News described him as that. In addition, they tracked his credit card purchases, and linked him to the purchase of a gas mask and gun. 

On Wednesday April 13th, Frank James was arrested. According to CBS News, the police had received a tip, and he was found in Manhattan’s East Village. Authorities believe that James himself was the one who called the tip in. He is facing a federal terrorism charge. His punishment could potentially be a life sentence. He is set to appear in Brooklyn Federal Court on Thursday.