Brooklyn Subway Shooting Suspect Pleads Not Guilty To Terrorism Charge

NEW YORK CITY — Frank James — the man accused of carrying out a mass shooting on a Brooklyn subway train — pleaded not guilty to a terrorism charge.

James, 62, entered the plea in federal court Friday — one month after the Sunset Park attack that left 10 people wounded and rattled a city already reeling from a wave of violence.

The proceeding began with District Judge William F. Kuntz asking James, "How are you doing today?"

"Pretty good," James said, according to the Associated Press.

The hearing offered James his first chance to formally respond to a federal terrorism and weapons charges on accusations he committed the April 12 mass shooting.

Both carry maximum sentences of life in prison, if he's convicted.

The case centers around a morning of chaos when authorities said a gas-masked gunman detonated two smoke grenades before he fired at least 33 gunshots, hitting 10 straphangers.

A further 13 people suffered injuries ranging as they were caught in a bloody scramble to exit an N train, police said.

The shooting victims ranged in age from 16 to 60, all of whom miraculously survived.

The attack prompted a massive manhunt that quickly focused on one suspect: James. After his April 13 arrest in the East Village the following day, he appeared in court for his first appearance as federal authorities mounted a terror case against him.

Last week, a federal grand jury indicted James on the terrorism charge.

They did so after reviewing a trail of evidence that authorities said links James to the attack — much of which is outlined in an unsealed criminal complaint.

A gun James bought in Ohio was found in the subway car where a gunman detonated two smoke grenades before opening fire, according to the complaint. What's more, a key to U-Haul van that James rented — and was seen in surveillance footage driving into the city — was found among the shooter's gear, the document states.

Other surveillance footage shows James donning the same construction-style vest witnesses said the shooter wore, the complaint states. The footage shows him walking from a U-Haul and into a Brooklyn subway station, according to the document.

The attack unfolded about 8:26 a.m. on an N train, the document states.

"At approximately 8:40 a.m., a surveillance camera recorded an individual who appears to match FRANK JAMES’s Wisconsin driver’s license photograph, walking up the stairs and exiting the New York City Transit N-train subway stop located at 25th Street, one
subway stop away from the approximate location of the attack at the 36th Street subway station," the complaint states.

James also left hours of bizarre and bigoted rants on YouTube, the complaint states.

Patch reviewed many videos before they were taken down, and a man who appears to be James inveighs racist and bigoted invectives against New York City mental health workers, Black, white and LGBTQ people, among others.

"JAMES also made statements, in sum and substance, about various conspiracy theories, including that: 'And so the message to me is: I should have gotten a gun, and just started shooting motherf---ers,'" the complaint states

The threats of violence prompted a judge during James' first court appearance to order him held without bond.

Between hearings, James' attorneys tried to argue that FBI agents wrongfully took his DNA without them being present. But a judge later denied their motion for, among other things, potentially keeping the swab out of court as "premature."

Defense attorney Mia Eisner-Grynberg declined comment outside the court Friday following James' plea, the Associated Press reported.

James is next due in court July 25.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.