“The daily life blood of New York City is in its transit system — it’s found in the subway cars that are responsible for safely transporting New Yorkers every single day. Frank James attempted to take that sense of safety away and inject fear and chaos into the heart of the city,” Breon S. Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said during a news conference at the courthouse.
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message to any would-be terrorists. If you plan to commit an act of violence, this office will aggressively pursue federal charges against you and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law,” Peace said.
During the court hearing, victims and their families talked about how the attack changed their lives.
While the fusillade of shots miraculously killed no one, some survivors of the attack said they were left with life-threatening wounds and persisting psychological trauma.
A student at New York University, his statement read by prosecutors, detailed five shots that crippled his leg and the enduring PTSD that forced him to drop out of school.
“I was laying on the bench, looking forward to when I would wake up from this dream, but it wasn’t a dream — I was being shot in both legs,” he said. “Every morning when I get up, I have to remind myself: The shooter will not be able to hurt me today.”
James shifted in his seat throughout the victim’s statements, avoiding eye contact and looking down at his hands. In his own statement, James blamed a lack of mental health services and decades of crippling poverty as what drove him to his actions. His public defender, Mia Eisner-Grynberg, asked the court for a reduced sentence of 18 years, citing James’s age and history of mental illness.
“Mercy, not vengeance, is the foundation of our justice system. James committed a horrible crime. We extend our sincerest apologies to the victims, and we do not wish to defend his decision as good or bad. We know they were terrible,” Eisner-Grynberg said. “But he is 64 years old, mentally and physically ill. It would be a miracle if he could survive any sentence in jail.”
In the attack, James, disguised as a construction worker, lobbed two smoke grenades into a busy Manhattan-bound train cart before unloading a barrage of bullets, then disappearing into the frenzied crowd.
Investigators discovered his identity through bags he left on the train that contained more smoke grenades, another firearm, a hatchet, gasoline and a key to a U-Haul he had rented in his name. He was arrested in the East Village almost 30 hours after the shooting, calling in a tip on himself. He pleaded guilty to terrorism charges in December.
Kuntz described the shooting as “raw evil,” and a disgrace to the city “where I grew up” and the subway system that carried passengers from “Duke Ellington” to “Gene Hackman.”
James’s attorneys said they planned to appeal portions of the decision.