Man accused of setting a woman on fire on a Chicago train is charged with terrorism

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday charged a man with terrorism for allegedly setting a woman on fire on a Chicago train.

Lawrence Reed was sitting at the back of a car on a Blue Line L train on Monday night when he approached a woman as she sat with her back to him, according to a federal investigator’s arrest affidavit. He removed the cap from a plastic bottle, then doused the woman with what was believed to be gasoline, the affidavit said.

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The woman then ran to the back of the train car. Reed ignited the bottle, approached the woman and set her on fire, according to the affidavit.

Reed, 50, of Chicago, is charged with a federal count of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system.

When the train pulled into a stop downtown