adminChicagoans woke up to a nightmare that should terrify every American who rides public transit: a 26-year-old woman, identified as Bethany MaGee, was doused in gasoline and set on fire aboard a CTA train in November, an attack prosecutors say was carried out by a repeat offender now facing federal terrorism charges. The horrific footage and the federal complaint have made plain that this was not a random scare but a violent act that exposed massive failures in public safety and supervision.
The alleged attacker, Lawrence Reed, had an extraordinary criminal history and was reportedly on electronic monitoring at the time of the attack, a fact that should provoke outrage from every voter who isn’t willing to accept lawlessness as the new normal. Records show repeated violations of monitoring conditions, raising the obvious question: why was a dangerous man with dozens of arrests still roaming our streets? This is the predictable consequence of soft-on-crime policies and revolving-door justice that reward criminals instead of protecting victims.
Federal officials didn’t sit idly by. The Federal Transit Administration reviewed the Chicago Transit Authority’s safety plan and bluntly rejected it, warning that the plan “fails to measurably reduce incidents of assaults” and threatening to withhold up to $50 million if CTA does not deliver real, enforceable improvements. The federal deadline is not a partisan stunt; it’s an ultimatum to city leaders to stop paying lip service to safety and start producing results.
In response, Chicago said it would increase off-duty police patrols and K-9 units, but the FTA made clear those moves were too little, too late and demanded immediate, month-by-month targets for reductions in assaults. Mayor Brandon Johnson and CTA officials can trumpet numbers all they want, but what matters is whether Chicagoans can ride trains without fearing for their lives. The federal warning gives the city 90 days to get serious — or see critical funding pulled.
This showdown is also a reminder that federal funding politics have consequences. The same federal apparatus that’s now threatening to withhold $50 million has previously paused billions earmarked for Chicago transit projects, and local leaders who spent years promising safety upgrades instead offered excuses. Voters should remember which officials spent their capital on woke agendas and which will actually stand up for public safety and common-sense law enforcement.
For conservative Americans, the lesson is simple: only a return to tough-on-crime policies, accountability for repeat offenders, and real investment in law enforcement will keep commuters safe. Silent bystanders, weak prosecutors, and permissive pretrial rules are the conditions that breed these horrors, and they must be overturned. If the city won’t act, the federal ultimatum should be a wake-up call to voters that safety is not negotiable.
Hardworking families who pay taxes deserve trains that don’t double as danger zones, and taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to subsidize chaos while politicians play political games. It’s time for bold action: stricter supervision for violent repeat offenders, immediate increases in visible law enforcement on platforms and cars, and real performance metrics with consequences. Chicago can either change course and protect its citizens, or it can keep watching its streets empty out as people vote with their feet.
