On Monday, yet another repeat offender committed a violent, barbaric crime against a young woman on one of our nation’s public transit systems. Lawrence Reed has been charged with terrorism after pouring gasoline on 26-year-old Bethany MaGee, then setting her on fire on a Chicago subway train. The woman sustained severe burns to over half of her body and is currently being treated in the hospital for what is bound to be a long recovery. Say her name: Bethany MaGee Bethany was riding a CTA train when career criminal Lawrence Reed doused her with gasoline and set her on fire. Reed has an extensive criminal history, with more than 70 prior arrests. pic.twitter.com/BkpH0G7IkH — I Meme Therefore I Am (@ImMeme0) November 21, 2025 When reports of this horrific story first came out, the media noted that Reed has at least 49 prior arrests. But now, as it turns out, that number is actually drastically higher… He’s been arrested six dozen times since the 1990s! These clip from Fox News and CBS News Chicago dove deeper: HOLY SMOKES! It’s been confirmed that the man in Chicago who set a woman on fire had 72 ARRESTS – not the initially thought 49 JUDGE: “I can’t put everyone behind bars just because the State Attorney asks me to.” This is a generational betrayal.pic.twitter.com/YIRr2tidze — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 21, 2025 NEW: The Chicago judge who released a man with at least 72 prior arrests before he set a woman on fire on a train has been named Lawrence Reed, 50, was freed on an ankle monitor after he assaulted a social worker in August The prosecutor warned Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez that… pic.twitter.com/hA3pa1SZgx — Unlimited L’s (@unlimited_ls) November 21, 2025 NEW: The Chicago judge who released a man with at least 72 prior arrests before he set a woman on fire on a train has been named Lawrence Reed, 50, was freed on an ankle monitor after he assaulted a social worker in August The prosecutor warned Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez that Reed had a long record and his next crime would likely be violent She said: ‘I can’t keep everybody in jail because the state’s attorney wants me to.’ Reed is now charged with federal terrorism after he poured gasoline on a 26-year-old woman and set her on fire on a Chicago transit train He walked up to her at random and yelled “burn alive b***h” Did you catch what Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez said? “I can’t keep everybody in jail because the state’s attorney wants me to.” I’m sorry, what? That’s literally your job — to keep criminals who deserve to be there in jail! “I can’t put everyone behind bars just because the State Attorney asks me to.” How about we make an exception for the guy with 72 ARRESTS?!!? — Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 21, 2025 On Friday, Reed appeared in federal court. It was there that a prosecutor revealed his long criminal history. In addition, he also has a long history of mental illness. Just weeks before the horrific attack, Reed repeatedly violated his curfew, which was part of the terms of his release while pending trial for charges related to assaulting a social worker. The Chicago Sun Times reported: On Friday, a federal magistrate judge ordered Reed held in custody. Reed agreed, asking the judge repeatedly to “just make sure I eat.” A prosecutor called the Blue Line crime “barbaric.” He said the woman burned for a full minute. And he told the judge Reed had been arrested 72 times in 32 years. Separately, Reed, 50, faces an aggravated battery charge in Cook County criminal court in an Aug. 19 attack at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn. He’s accused in that case of attacking a social worker while a psychiatric patient there. A judge in that case had freed Reed on electronic monitoring while he awaits trial. According to court records, Reed has a history of mental illness and dozens of past arrests. His lawyer told a judge he‘s suffered from schizophrenia and depression for 26 years and is the father of three grown children. A 2024 report filed after Reed was charged with kicking the front door of a building noted that he “takes medication for mental illness and suicidal ideation” and “states he has had previous attempts at harming himself.” Court records in his August case show he was assigned to stay in at least two shelters. On Sept. 12, he was ordered to stay 24 hours a day at a shelter in the 4100 block of South Princeton Avenue except for short periods on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Gregory Butler, who runs the transitional housing shelter on Princeton Avenue, said he Reed had stayed “for less than a month” and that it was “a couple of months ago.” He said Reed came from Hartgrove Hospital, a mental health clinic on the West Side. On Sept. 30, Reed was then assigned to stay at a second shelter, in the 10000 block of South Avenue N. It’s unclear whether he stayed there or was assigned elsewhere. Renee Garcia Hernandez, the owner of the group home on Avenue N, would not say whether Reed made it there. Of the Blue Line attack, she said, “It is a horrible thing, and I really feel bad for anyone, especially the girl.” Garcia reposted a message about the attack on her Facebook page, saying, “Reed was unleashed to prey on the innocent citizen and set fire to a 26 year old woman on the CTA. Judges must be held accountable!” In a filing this week in Reed’s assault case in Cook County court, the pretrial services unit of the Cook County chief judge’s office reported that Reed had repeatedly violated his curfew before the Blue Line attack Monday.Those violations occurred Nov. 9, Nov. 12, Nov. 14, Nov. 15 and at 9:13 a.m. Monday — the day of the CTA attack. Two “escalated alerts” were issued because of his curfew violation Monday — at 12:13 p.m. and 12 hours later. This man is clearly deranged and needs to be locked up, far away from society. Once again, the judicial system has failed a young, innocent woman whose life has now been irrevocably changed due to some activist judge refusing to put insane criminals behind bars. The judge who let him out — and so many others who have the same attitude towards criminal justice — need to be held accountable. Your thoughts?