Trump threatens funding for Chicago transit after woman set on fire

President Donald Trump's administration is threatening to pull federal funding for public transportation in Chicago unless the city tightens security after a man allegedly set a woman on fire inside a commuter train in November.

Gov. JB Pritzker's office said in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday that Trump is politicizing ''a heinous tragedy'' while doing nothing to make Illinois communities safer.

Federal Transit Authority Administrator Marc Molinaro sent a letter Monday to Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson demanding the Chicago Transit Authority develop and implement an updated safety plan by Dec. 19. The letter did not call for any specific changes.

The demand comes after a man riding a Blue Line L commuter train on Nov. 17 doused fellow passenger Bethany MaGee with gasoline from a plastic drink bottle as she sat with her back to him, according to court filings. He then chased her through the train car and set her on fire. The man then got off the train at the next stop in downtown Chicago and walked away as MaGee, 26, stumbled out and fell to the ground. She suffered severe burns but survived.

Police arrested 50-year-old Lawrence Reed of Chicago the next morning. Federal prosecutors charged him with committing a terrorist attack, which carries a maximum sentence of life. Online court records did not list an attorney for him.

Information provided to The Associated Press by the Cook County Circuit Court shows more than 60 criminal cases filed against Reed since 1993, ranging from traffic, trespassing and drug possession offenses to more serious charges involving violent behavior — including at least 15 battery and assault cases and at least two arson cases.

At the time of the train attack, Reed was on electronic monitoring in an active battery case. Authorities say he hit a hospital social worker in the face in August.

Molinaro said in his letter that it was ''unconscionable'' that Reed was released in the battery case and the attack on MaGee reflects ''systemic failures in both leadership and accountability on all levels that cannot be tolerated.''

''I will not accept the brutal assault of an innocent 26-year-old woman as an inevitable cost of providing public transportation,'' he wrote.

Pritzker's office in its email pointed to a bill that Illinois legislators passed in October that would create a law enforcement task force to address public transit safety. The governor hasn't taken any action on the bill yet, though, and if signed it would not take effect until June.

Johnson said during a news conference that he takes the threat of losing funding seriously and called on Trump to partner with American cities rather than be an adversary.

''It's no secret here that President Trump spends more time thinking about my job than actually doing his,'' the mayor said.

Chicago and other Democratic-led cities have been the focus of intense criticism from Trump and his administration, who have characterized them as crime-ridden despite steep drop in violent crime after a pandemic-era spike.

The administration in October announced it was withholding $2.1 billion for Chicago infrastructure projects, including expansion plans for the Red Line L commuter train. The project would have established stops in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods. White House budget officials said then that they wanted to ensure funding wasn't moving through race-based contracting. The administration withheld $18 billion for New York infrastructure the same week.