Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
New York subway shooting suspect poses ‘serious’ danger, says attorney
Bloomberg
NEW YORK: Frank James, the man arrested on federal terrorism charges for allegedly opening fire in a packed New York subway car, was ordered held without bail after prosecutors argued he posed a “serious and ongoing danger to the community”.
Ten people were shot and 13 others injured during the melee that erupted after the rush hour assault in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
“The defendant, terrifyingly, opened fire on passengers on a crowded subway train, interrupting their morning commute in a way this city hasn’t seen in more than 20 years,” Assistant US Attorney Sara Winik said at James’s initial court appearance in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday. “The defendant’s attack was premeditated, it was carefully planned and it caused terror among the victims and our entire city.”
Winik argued that his “mere presence outside federal custody presents a serious risk of danger to the community, and he should be detained pending trial”.
James, wearing a khaki shirt and pants, black sneakers and wire-rimmed glasses, gave US Magistrate Judge Roanne L Mann a series of terse, quiet answers as she explained the purpose of the hearing. Asked if he had seen the government’s criminal complaint, he said, “Yes, I have.” Asked if he understood the charges against him, he said, “Yes.”
James, 62, is charged with committing a terrorist act on a mass transit system and, if convicted, faces a term as long as life in prison, according to Breon Peace, the US attorney for New York’s Eastern District. He was arrested on Wednesday in the East Village neighbourhood of Manhattan after a 30-hour manhunt.
James Loonam, a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn who led several high-profile terrorism cases involving planned attacks on the city’s transit system, said the investigation against James is in the early stages and that more charges are likely to be filed. “Prosecutors often start with a single charge so law enforcement agents can make an arrest and detain a suspect,” said Loonam, who’s now in private practice in New York.