Lawyers for Frank James, the ranting 62-year-old accused of carrying out a mass shooting on the New York City subway then calling authorities on himself a day later after seeing his photo on the news, asked for a psychiatric evaluation to be undertaken after he was denied bond on Thursday.
James is facing several charges, including terrorism against a mass transit system, for allegedly letting off two smoke bombs then opening fire inside a subway car as it pulled into the station during rush hour on Tuesday morning, injuring at least two dozen people.
The 62-year-old with ties to Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin faces life in prison if convicted.
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During his initial court appearance Thursday, Brooklyn federal prosecutors argued that James should be held without bail because he is a flight risk and committed an “entirely premeditated” attack. Prosecutors noted that James caused “terror among the victims and across the entire city” when he “terrifyingly opened fire” during the morning commute.
“He is a serious risk of danger to the community,” the prosecutor added.
James’ attorney, Mia Eisner-Grynberg with the Federal Defenders of New York, waived his right to a preliminary hearing but asked for James to receive a psychiatric and medical evaluation and to receive his magnesium pills for “leg cramps while in custody.” Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann said she would rule on the request later Thursday.
“We are all still learning about what happened on that train and we caution against a rush to judgment,” Eisner-Grynberg told reporters outside the courthouse. She confirmed reports that James called CrimeStoppers himself after seeing a photo of himself on the news.
Prosecutors also cited James’ unhinged social media history, which included YouTube videos threatening violence and ranting about his mental health issues. As The Daily Beast previously reported, James went on lengthy diatribes on race, politics, and gun violence—including his desire to “kill people” and his disdain for Black people, Jews, his family, and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
In a detention memo, prosecutors allege James picked up a U-Haul in Philadelphia stocked with weapons and a propane tank before driving to New York in the early hours of April 12. Fellow subway commuters told authorities James, who was wearing construction gear, donned a gas mask and was mumbling to himself as he got on the crowded N train in south Brooklyn.
“We have witnesses on the train who said he was sitting in the back corner of the second car, and he popped the smoke grenade,” NYPD Chief of Detectives James Essig said on Wednesday. “And we have one witness who says, ‘What did you do?’ He goes, ‘Oops,’ and then he pops it, then brandishes the firearm and fires 33 times.”
As the smoke-filled train arrived at 36th Street, commuters could be seen running for their lives while others spilt out onto the ground with gunshot wounds. Meanwhile, James went into the R train sitting across the platform before exiting one stop away from the carnage, a criminal complaint states.
James left behind a wealth of evidence, including a 9mm Glock, three extended-capacity magazines, a backpack, a bag of fireworks and smoke canisters, a hatchet, a spray bottle of gasoline, and a credit card that he used to rent the U-Haul, and a receipt for storage unit in Philadelphia.
Inside a Philadelphia apartment he rented for 15 days last month, authorities allegedly found an empty magazine for a “Glock handgun, a taser, a high-capacity rifle magazine, and a blue smoke cannister [sic],” according to a criminal complaint. Prosecutors also allege James had more weapons, including an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, in the storage unit.
He was ultimately arrested on Wednesday afternoon in the East Village when he called CrimeStoppers from a McDonald’s. He left before cops arrived but three “Good Samaritans,” one of whom appeared to be a 21-year-old camera installer named Zack, spotted him a couple of blocks away and flagged down the officers, two law enforcement sources told The Daily Beast.
