Man accused of setting woman on fire on Chicago train faces federal terrorism charge

The man accused of setting a woman on fire on a Chicago transit train this week has been hit with a federal terrorism charge, according to a criminal complaint

The man accused of setting a woman on fire on a Chicago transit train this week has been hit with a federal terrorism charge, according to a criminal complaint.

Lawrence Reed, 50, was charged with one count of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system Wednesday in the Northern District of Illinois in connection with the attack Monday night.

The incident unfolded just before 9:30 p.m. on a CTA blue line train.

Security video captured the moment a man whom authorities identified as Reed walked through the train car holding a bottle and approached the victim, a 26-year-old woman with her back toward him. He then poured liquid over her head and body and tried to ignite it, according to the criminal complaint.

The woman fought him off and ran toward the front of the train as the man chased behind. The man ignited the bottle in his hand, dropped it and later picked it up and lit the victim on fire with the bottle, the complaint said. He then ran to the front of the train car and “stood watching” as “her body was engulfed in flames,” according to the filing.