Federal authorities have intervened to detain a 50-year-old man accused of setting a woman on fire on a Chicago train, arguing in court filings that the state’s judicial system failed to contain a violent offender who had been released pending trial under Illinois’ cashless bail laws.
Lawrence Reed is now facing federal charges of terrorism against a mass transportation system following the November 17 attack on the CTA Blue Line. Prosecutors allege Reed doused a female passenger in gasoline and ignited it, leaving her hospitalized with severe burns.
The incident has reignited scrutiny of the Illinois Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today (SAFE-T) Act, signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker in 2021. The law made Illinois the first state to abolish cash bail, emphasizing pretrial release conditions like electronic monitoring over monetary bonds.
According to court documents and local reports, Reed was free at the time of the attack despite a lengthy criminal history that includes 72 arrests and eight felony convictions over three decades. Most recently, he was arrested in August for allegedly striking a social worker with enough force to cause a concussion and chipped tooth.
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During the initial hearing for that assault charge, Cook County prosecutors recommended detention. However, Cook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez ordered Reed’s release on electronic monitoring, citing the parameters of the SAFE-T Act.
“I can’t keep everybody in jail because the State’s Attorney wants me to,” Molina-Gonzalez reportedly told prosecutors at the time.
Subsequent to that release, another judge removed the electronic monitoring requirement, placing Reed under a simple curfew, despite reports that he had violated pretrial conditions multiple times.
In a motion filed Thursday requesting federal detention, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) criticized the state’s handling of Reed. The filing noted that Reed had previously received probation for a 2020 arson attack on a Chicago building.
“Defendant has been leniently treated in state court, including receiving probationary sentences for violent offenses and pre-trial release for a victim-involved crime,” the DOJ motion stated. “In exchange for such lenient treatment, defendant has consistently re-offended and delved further into criminality.”
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Federal prosecutors concluded that the state system was “unable to contain defendant’s violent crimes,” necessitating federal intervention. U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura McNally ordered Reed’s detention on Friday. Reed has opted not to retain counsel for the federal case.
Governor Pritzker, who previously championed the SAFE-T Act as a necessary reform to stop wealthy offenders from buying their way out of jail while nonviolent offenders remained incarcerated, addressed the incident on Friday.
Speaking to the press, Pritzker signaled a willingness to revisit aspects of the legislation.
“Sometimes bills get passed and everybody that votes for it knows that there needs to be a trailer bill or a tweak that needs to be made afterward,” Pritzker said. “So I think everybody is open to listening to what changes might need to be made.”
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