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A Chicago man suspected of dousing a woman with gasoline and setting her on fire on Nov. 17 is a “career criminal,” the White House said.
According to the White House, Lawrence Reed, who was arrested for crimes, had been arrested 72 times before, including 8 felonies and 7 misdemeanors.
The victim, 26-year-old Bethany MaGee, survived the attack but “is now fighting for her life with severe burns,” the White House said in a statement.
According to internal court reports, in court on Monday, Reid shouted “I’m guilty” three times in a row, and the judge warned him that he could be sentenced to life in prison for committing terrorist attacks and other crimes.
The White House sought to blame the incident on Democrats’ crime policies, which it called “weak.”
Illinois and Chicago are both led by Democrats, and President Donald Trump is currently seeking to withhold federal funds from Illinois because the state has eliminated “cash bail,” in which arrestees pay a sum of money before trial to get out of jail.
The White House said in a statement released on Tuesday that the suspect “is able to walk free because of the radical and dangerous ‘no cash bail’ law that Governor JB Pritzker proudly signed into law and has the strong support of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.”
Mayor Johnson said in a statement that the attack “was a tragic incident and the mayor’s prayers are with the victims and their families.”
Reed, 50, has a history of mental illness and has been arrested 72 times since he was 18, according to BBC partner CBS News Chicago.
In August, he was charged with aggravated assault for allegedly beating a social worker. After his arrest, he was released on electronic monitoring over the objections of prosecutors.
Prosecutors said the attack on Ms Magee occurred while she was “minding her own business and looking at her phone”.
According to the criminal complaint, Mr. Reed approached her from the back of the train car and doused her with gasoline before she ran away.
The complaint alleges that Reed ignited the remaining liquid in the bottle as he chased her, causing Ms. Magee to catch fire.
Footage of the incident appears to show Mr Reid looking at Ms Magee as she rolled on the floor trying to put out the flames.
Last week, Mayor Johnson said the attack “should never have happened” and described it as “an absolute failure of our criminal justice as well as our mental health institutions.”
He said the suspect clearly faces mental health challenges and poses a danger to himself and the community.
As a county commissioner, Johnson introduced a non-binding resolution in 2020 to redirect funding from police and jails to other public services, but when he ran for mayor in 2023, he pledged not to cut police spending.
