President Donald J. Trump highlighted Chicago crime and lambasted “liberal judges” after Bethany MaGee was set on fire on a subway train, allegedly by Lawrence Reed, a man with 72 prior arrests who had been released on bond despite prosecutors seeking detention. The attack happened on November 17. Trump raised the case during the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon at the White House and again called for National Guard troops to be sent to the city.
Trump said: “This is a very serious thing. They burned this beautiful woman riding in a train. A man was arrested 72 times. Think of that. And they’ll let him out again, the liberal judges will let him out again.” He added: “We’re going to lose a great city if we don’t do it quickly.”
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (D) and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) rejected Trump’s call for National Guard deployment, citing constitutional concerns. Critics argued that progressive criminal justice policies allowed repeat offenders. Reed had been placed on electronic monitoring but violated curfew before the alleged attack. Cook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez denied prosecutors’s request to detain him, stating: “I can’t keep everybody in jail because the State’s Attorney wants me to.”
Chicago Crime Crisis: Trump Slams ‘Liberal Judges’ After Woman Set on Fire by Man with 72 Arrests
