US President Donald Trump’s administration is threatening to pull federal funding for public transport in Chicago unless the city tightens security after a man allegedly set a woman on fire inside a commuter train in November.
Governor J.B. Pritzker’s office said in an email on Tuesday that Trump is politicising “a heinous tragedy” while doing nothing to make Illinois communities safer.
Federal Transit Authority Administrator Marc Molinaro sent a letter on Monday to Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson demanding the Chicago Transit Authority develop and implement an updated safety plan by December 19. The letter did not call for any specific changes.
The demand comes after a man riding a Blue Line L commuter train on November 17 doused fellow passenger Bethany MaGee with petrol from a plastic drink bottle as she sat with her back to him, according to court filings.
He then chased her through the train car and set her on fire. The man then got off the train at the next stop in downtown Chicago and walked away as MaGee, 26, stumbled out and fell to the ground. She suffered severe burns but survived.
Police arrested 50-year-old Lawrence Reed of Chicago the next morning. Federal prosecutors charged him with committing a terrorist attack, which carries a maximum sentence of life. Online court records did not list a lawyer for him.