Federal terrorism charge filed against a man who allegedly set a woman on fire on Chicago train

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged a man with committing a terrorist attack, alleging he poured gasoline on a woman and chased her through a Chicago train car before setting her on fire.

Lawrence Reed was sitting at the back of a car on a Blue Line L train on Monday night when he approached the woman as she sat with her back to him and doused her with gasoline that was in a plastic beverage bottle, according to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrest affidavit.

The 26-year-old woman fought off the man as he tried to ignite the gas, then she ran from one end of the car to the other as Reed chased her, an investigator said in the affidavit, citing surveillance video from the train. Reed then ignited the bottle, approached the woman and set her on fire, according to the affidavit. -- More...