Women Risk Their Lives on Public Transit in Blue Cities

Another habitual felon has targeted a woman alone on a commuter train.  This time it was last Monday in Chicago at 9:30 p.m. when Lawrence Reed, who has at least 13 priors, poured gasoline on a young woman riding alone on a CTA Blue Line train and set her on fire.  Alexandra Koch of Fox News reports that Reed had recently been released from jail after being charged with aggravated battery for attacking a woman at a psychiatric hospital last August. Reed apparently selected the young woman at random while she was sitting on the train looking at her phone.  Totally unprovoked he came up from behind and doused her with the gas. Before he could light the gas, the woman ran to the back of the train with Reed following. He then lit her on fire and as she rolled on the floor while he watched.  When the train stopped, the woman, who was still on fire, managed to exit before collapsing on the platform.

Two bystanders came to her aid, putting out the fire, while Reed walked away.  Most of the attack was caught on security video.  The young woman, is suffering from severe burns on her face and body and is currently in critical condition. He was arrested Tuesday wearing the same clothes he wore during the attack. Reed’s criminal record in Chicago goes back to 2017 when he was arrested for driving recklessly without a license. In 2018 he was arrested and released three times for property crimes, trespass, damaging property, punching multiple women in the face and drug possession. His subsequent arrests include more traffic offenses, several attacks on people and even setting fire to a government building where the Governor was holding a Covid-19 briefing. None of these crimes were considered serious enough under Chicago law to justify locking Reed up. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor J.D. Pritzker are both progressives who believe that the entire criminal justice system is racist. This disdain for law enforcement and sympathy for habitual criminals is not limited to Chicago. DeCarlos Brown Jr, the habitual criminal who randomly stabbed a 23-year-old girl to death on a commuter train in Charlotte, NC last August, had 14 prior arrests before he was caught on video killing his latest victim. Like Chicago, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and Governor Josh Stein both believe that locking up black repeat criminals is racist. Lawrence Reed and DeCarlos Brown are both black.

In Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, Portland, Austin, Philadelphia, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta, Minneapolis, New Orleans and New York City, it is not safe for people, and particularly women, to use public transit. The political leaders in these places share the same views regarding law enforcement as Chicago and Charlotte. Habitual criminals are set free without bail shortly after arrest for almost any crime and this continues until they eventually kill somebody.

The highly touted policies which promote alternatives to incarceration have failed miserably and innocent people are paying the price with their lives.