Another horrific chicago train attack by a serial violent offender, he set young woman on fire

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It is because violent repeat offenders are not prosecuted and if they are it us too light of a sentence before they are released from jail.

There needs to be mandatory incarceration of mentally ill who are convicted or crimes it found not mentally competent.

Reed’s criminal record includes nearly 50 prior arrests since 2017, with past convictions for arson, aggravated battery, and assault.


Or...we could help people who are mentally ill before they commit violent crimes. Criminalizing mental illness is obviously not working. And neither is ignoring it. Also, why are there so many violent mentally ill people?

Figuring out how to punish and institutionalize people who commit crimes may make you feel better, but none of this actually prevents crime. I don't want to be someone's first victim either.


how is Criminalizing mental illness not working? we decriminalized it and its a major issue

DP. It wasn’t decriminalized it was defunded. Hence why there are no insane asylums anymore.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote: But the Mayor says they got the crime issue under control?

You have this and the 30 people shot during the tree lighting in the loop area. That is supposed to be the safest part of Chicago?


Maybe he should accept the federal help after all. It does not seem like he should be refusing anything at this point.

The federal help being the national guard? What are they going to do?
Anonymous
• May 2017: Driving while revoked/suspended (2nd offense).
• April 2018: Soliciting unlawful business.
• June 2018: Criminal trespass to real property.
• July 2018: Battery – make physical contact.
• April 2019: Driving on a revoked license.
• December 2019: Criminal damage to property under $500.
• February 2020: Battery –make physical contact; aggravated battery in a public place.
• April 2020: Aggravated arson / arson knowing a person was present.
• December 2021: Assault – simple; battery – cause bodily harm.
• June 2022: Battery – make physical contact.
• January 2024: Criminal damage to property under $500.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It is because violent repeat offenders are not prosecuted and if they are it us too light of a sentence before they are released from jail.

There needs to be mandatory incarceration of mentally ill who are convicted or crimes it found not mentally competent.

Reed’s criminal record includes nearly 50 prior arrests since 2017, with past convictions for arson, aggravated battery, and assault.


Or...we could help people who are mentally ill before they commit violent crimes. Criminalizing mental illness is obviously not working. And neither is ignoring it. Also, why are there so many violent mentally ill people?

Figuring out how to punish and institutionalize people who commit crimes may make you feel better, but none of this actually prevents crime. I don't want to be someone's first victim either.


I agree with not criminalizing mental illness but really do not care for the glib “help mentally ill people before they commit violent crimes.”

There’s an excellent chance this man was in some type of community mental health program for severe and chronic mental illness but the fact is the medications don’t always work and people often decline care even when it’s available (and actively promoted to them.)

These are complex issues and anyone in the field will tell you making statements like “just offer the mental health care so they don’t commit crimes” (or school shootings, or whatever) makes as much sense as saying “just offer primary care, so they dont die of cancer.” It’s just not how it works.


What is your suggestion then?


Step one is don’t act like psychiatrists have a magic wand to cure everyone with severe and devastating mental illness and the only issue is access. Since that’s not true having that be the primary talking point is obviously not a winning solution.



I'm pretty sure what psychiatrists do isn't considered a "cure". In most cases is just making people more obedient, often at the expense of other brain functions. Not saying it isn't appropriate, just it's not "curing" people.

Is this really something that is appropriate for a political forum, who thinks they have something to gain by politicizing this?

Personally, I live in Rockville, we have extensive "mental health" services, and I am going to move because I don't want to pay taxes for these things or to be around the mentally ill and developmentally challenged that it attracts. Why do all the low IQ people move to my neighborhood and bring down my schools MAP scores?
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It is because violent repeat offenders are not prosecuted and if they are it us too light of a sentence before they are released from jail.

There needs to be mandatory incarceration of mentally ill who are convicted or crimes it found not mentally competent.

Reed’s criminal record includes nearly 50 prior arrests since 2017, with past convictions for arson, aggravated battery, and assault.


Or...we could help people who are mentally ill before they commit violent crimes. Criminalizing mental illness is obviously not working. And neither is ignoring it. Also, why are there so many violent mentally ill people?

Figuring out how to punish and institutionalize people who commit crimes may make you feel better, but none of this actually prevents crime. I don't want to be someone's first victim either.


how is Criminalizing mental illness not working? we decriminalized it and its a major issue

DP. It wasn’t decriminalized it was defunded. Hence why there are no insane asylums anymore.



There also aren’t enough providers to address the situation. There aren’t enough beds in psych wards to address those who want treatment.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It is because violent repeat offenders are not prosecuted and if they are it us too light of a sentence before they are released from jail.

There needs to be mandatory incarceration of mentally ill who are convicted or crimes it found not mentally competent.

Reed’s criminal record includes nearly 50 prior arrests since 2017, with past convictions for arson, aggravated battery, and assault.


Or...we could help people who are mentally ill before they commit violent crimes. Criminalizing mental illness is obviously not working. And neither is ignoring it. Also, why are there so many violent mentally ill people?

Figuring out how to punish and institutionalize people who commit crimes may make you feel better, but none of this actually prevents crime. I don't want to be someone's first victim either.


I agree with not criminalizing mental illness but really do not care for the glib “help mentally ill people before they commit violent crimes.”

There’s an excellent chance this man was in some type of community mental health program for severe and chronic mental illness but the fact is the medications don’t always work and people often decline care even when it’s available (and actively promoted to them.)

These are complex issues and anyone in the field will tell you making statements like “just offer the mental health care so they don’t commit crimes” (or school shootings, or whatever) makes as much sense as saying “just offer primary care, so they dont die of cancer.” It’s just not how it works.


What is your suggestion then?


Step one is don’t act like psychiatrists have a magic wand to cure everyone with severe and devastating mental illness and the only issue is access. Since that’s not true having that be the primary talking point is obviously not a winning solution.



I'm pretty sure what psychiatrists do isn't considered a "cure". In most cases is just making people more obedient, often at the expense of other brain functions. Not saying it isn't appropriate, just it's not "curing" people.

Is this really something that is appropriate for a political forum, who thinks they have something to gain by politicizing this?

Personally, I live in Rockville, we have extensive "mental health" services, and I am going to move because I don't want to pay taxes for these things or to be around the mentally ill and developmentally challenged that it attracts. Why do all the low IQ people move to my neighborhood and bring down my schools MAP scores?


Ma’am, this is a Wendy’s…

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It is because violent repeat offenders are not prosecuted and if they are it us too light of a sentence before they are released from jail.

There needs to be mandatory incarceration of mentally ill who are convicted or crimes it found not mentally competent.

Reed’s criminal record includes nearly 50 prior arrests since 2017, with past convictions for arson, aggravated battery, and assault.


Or...we could help people who are mentally ill before they commit violent crimes. Criminalizing mental illness is obviously not working. And neither is ignoring it. Also, why are there so many violent mentally ill people?

Figuring out how to punish and institutionalize people who commit crimes may make you feel better, but none of this actually prevents crime. I don't want to be someone's first victim either.


You can't force someone into treatment in this country. And you can't always predict who will commit a violent crime. Many mentally ill homeless are crime victims because the violent ones often aren't prosecuted. Disability advocates fight tooth and nail for people to have the right to live on the streets even if they can't take care of themselves and are violent OR are repeated victims of violence. And what has happened in the last few years is that many cities have stopped criminalizing mental illness so it is just a revolving door.

Who suffers most are poor and working class people who have to take public transportation because so many violent mentally ill people are camped out on busses, subways, trains, etc. It is easy for upper class people who live in safe neighborhoods and have cars to say let's not commit or incarcerate violent offenders. Let's just help mentally ill people, let's just provided housing first. This ignores the fact that these people are way too mentally ill to understand they need help. And they are becoming even more messed up with all the drugs they using that it further fries their brains.

This individual never should have been on the streets;

FEBRUARY 2020 Lawrence Reed, 44, was charged two misdemeanor counts of battery despite attacking more. At 8:30 AM Reed was punching the women at “random,” and may have struck between five and 10 of them, police said. They had bloody noses and other facial injuries, Langford said. He was arrested for a similar incident in which he allegedly slapped a 42-year-old man in the face at the Halsted CTA Blue Line platform Feb. 21, police said. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of battery in that case. He was released on a recognizance bond, which is a release from jail that requires a defendant to sign a written promise to appear for court dates without having to post a cash or surety bond.

APRIL 2020 : A man has been charged with starting a fire at the Thompson Center Thursday minutes before Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave his daily COVID-19 news conference in the building. Lawrence Reed, 44, is charged with a felony count of aggravated arson knowing people were present, according to Chicago police. Reed poured an “unknown substance” on the glass of the building about 2:15 p.m. in the 100 block of West Lake Street and lit it, police said. A video shared on social media appears to show flames licking the outside of the Thompson Center.

Once someone is charged with arson, homeless shelters and many other agencies will NOT take the person.

DECEMBER 4, 2021 Charged with: Assault

DECEMBER 21, 2021 Battery

JUNE 2022 Battery - physical contact


Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:• May 2017: Driving while revoked/suspended (2nd offense).
• April 2018: Soliciting unlawful business.
• June 2018: Criminal trespass to real property.
• July 2018: Battery – make physical contact.
• April 2019: Driving on a revoked license.
• December 2019: Criminal damage to property under $500.
• February 2020: Battery –make physical contact; aggravated battery in a public place.
• April 2020: Aggravated arson / arson knowing a person was present.
• December 2021: Assault – simple; battery – cause bodily harm.
• June 2022: Battery – make physical contact.
• January 2024: Criminal damage to property under $500.


Each of this are (or could be depending on the specifics) fairly minor offenses. Battery, for instance, can literally mean just touching someone without their consent, and doing it in a public place makes it aggravated in Illinois. Aggravated arson could mean lighting paper in a wastebasket on fire. Assault doesn't have to even mean physically contacting or injuring a person, and bodily harm can be as minor as a scratch or a small bruise.

Arson is a class 2 felony in Illinois with a base sentence of 3 to 7 years.

However, the article says these are police records. They are not conviction records. We don't know what happened with these cases, and prosecutorial decisions involve many factors, including whether witnesses or victims remain available and if victims are reluctant to remain involved. If these incidents involved random strangers vs people the accused knew makes a difference. I also don't know how things could have worked if the prosecutors had considered pushing for court-ordered psychiatric or drug evaluation or diversion programs. For all we knew, this guy could have had a habit of pouring gasoline on objects in alleys and lighting them on fire but was never caught doing that until he progressed to assaulting a person.

My point being, I guess, that it's easy to blame "liberal judges" on the one hand or access to mental health services but no matter what it still boils down to how the laws are written, how systems are designed, and what the resources are for criminal AND drug related AND mental health programs. Some people honestly do need ongoing significant supervision even when they no longer meet criteria for inpatient services or complete jail sentences. And in many cases there are family members who HAVE tried to find some kind of intervention for a long time--without knowing the details, we don't know if some of those arrests resulted because a relative hoped that this time someone would get the person into an inpatient program but that wasn't the outcome. Sometimes family members will call for arrests hoping that at least while in jail the person has less chance to get themselves into much more serious trouble.

Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It is because violent repeat offenders are not prosecuted and if they are it us too light of a sentence before they are released from jail.

There needs to be mandatory incarceration of mentally ill who are convicted or crimes it found not mentally competent.

Reed’s criminal record includes nearly 50 prior arrests since 2017, with past convictions for arson, aggravated battery, and assault.


Or...we could help people who are mentally ill before they commit violent crimes. Criminalizing mental illness is obviously not working. And neither is ignoring it. Also, why are there so many violent mentally ill people?

Figuring out how to punish and institutionalize people who commit crimes may make you feel better, but none of this actually prevents crime. I don't want to be someone's first victim either.


You can't force someone into treatment in this country. And you can't always predict who will commit a violent crime. Many mentally ill homeless are crime victims because the violent ones often aren't prosecuted. Disability advocates fight tooth and nail for people to have the right to live on the streets even if they can't take care of themselves and are violent OR are repeated victims of violence. And what has happened in the last few years is that many cities have stopped criminalizing mental illness so it is just a revolving door.

Who suffers most are poor and working class people who have to take public transportation because so many violent mentally ill people are camped out on busses, subways, trains, etc. It is easy for upper class people who live in safe neighborhoods and have cars to say let's not commit or incarcerate violent offenders. Let's just help mentally ill people, let's just provided housing first. This ignores the fact that these people are way too mentally ill to understand they need help. And they are becoming even more messed up with all the drugs they using that it further fries their brains.

This individual never should have been on the streets;

FEBRUARY 2020 Lawrence Reed, 44, was charged two misdemeanor counts of battery despite attacking more. At 8:30 AM Reed was punching the women at “random,” and may have struck between five and 10 of them, police said. They had bloody noses and other facial injuries, Langford said. He was arrested for a similar incident in which he allegedly slapped a 42-year-old man in the face at the Halsted CTA Blue Line platform Feb. 21, police said. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of battery in that case. He was released on a recognizance bond, which is a release from jail that requires a defendant to sign a written promise to appear for court dates without having to post a cash or surety bond.

APRIL 2020 : A man has been charged with starting a fire at the Thompson Center Thursday minutes before Gov. J.B. Pritzker gave his daily COVID-19 news conference in the building. Lawrence Reed, 44, is charged with a felony count of aggravated arson knowing people were present, according to Chicago police. Reed poured an “unknown substance” on the glass of the building about 2:15 p.m. in the 100 block of West Lake Street and lit it, police said. A video shared on social media appears to show flames licking the outside of the Thompson Center.

Once someone is charged with arson, homeless shelters and many other agencies will NOT take the person.

DECEMBER 4, 2021 Charged with: Assault

DECEMBER 21, 2021 Battery

JUNE 2022 Battery - physical contact




And in 2020 they were trying to avoid adding people to jail populations and court systems became a lot more complicated with remote hearings and so forth. Court calendars were messed up way more than they even normally are.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:It is because violent repeat offenders are not prosecuted and if they are it us too light of a sentence before they are released from jail.

There needs to be mandatory incarceration of mentally ill who are convicted or crimes it found not mentally competent.

Reed’s criminal record includes nearly 50 prior arrests since 2017, with past convictions for arson, aggravated battery, and assault.


This is not in keeping with the site narrative. You have been warned. Don't let it happen again.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Oh look. Trump has a bad day and suddenly we get to hear another distracting story about a sCaAAary criminal.


Trump had a bad day?

Bethany MaGee had much, much worse day
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:Oh look. Trump has a bad day and suddenly we get to hear another distracting story about a sCaAAary criminal.


I am from Chicago. Worked a tough job in a UFCW union slaughterhouse to get through college at a fancy school DCUM dilettantes all aspire to. Most DCUMers would have folded in two hours.

Kept my mouth shut and worked. I was aware of the dangers of the city. A state champion in track, and competed on the so-called scary south side. But we didn't have criminals setting innocent young women on fire.

No one really knows the psychiatric condition of the perp. Only speculation applies.

But we do know this guy was a multiple offender and a danger to the public. Without question.

On the balance of harms, the criminal justice system had to protect the public here and failed to do so. With 72 charges prior, not even a close case.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:For comparison’s sake, how many people did Trump kill by cutting off USAID food assistance?


Oh, you mean using USAID to fund color revolutions in foreign countries?

No, I mean the hundreds of thousands of deaths from cutting off food to starving people. I’m sorry the foreign actors feeding you garbage on X.com told you it was “color revolutions” or whatever nonsense you imagine. It was actually food. For children. Children who starved to death.


NP. This is a thread about grievous bodily harm inflicted on an American citizen by another American citizen in the United States. Why are you bringing up the theoretical impact of USAID cuts to noncitizens outside of the United States? Go post your grievances in another thread.


Because our "leaders" kill scores more people on a daily basis with their policies, but you are allowing yourself to be whipped into a frenzy over regrettable but isolated instances of violence while ignoring large scale violence committed by the people in charge.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:It is because violent repeat offenders are not prosecuted and if they are it us too light of a sentence before they are released from jail.

There needs to be mandatory incarceration of mentally ill who are convicted or crimes it found not mentally competent.

Reed’s criminal record includes nearly 50 prior arrests since 2017, with past convictions for arson, aggravated battery, and assault.


THIS. All of it.
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It is because violent repeat offenders are not prosecuted and if they are it us too light of a sentence before they are released from jail.

There needs to be mandatory incarceration of mentally ill who are convicted or crimes it found not mentally competent.

Reed’s criminal record includes nearly 50 prior arrests since 2017, with past convictions for arson, aggravated battery, and assault.


THIS. All of it.


Throwing people in jail seems to have done a great job of preventing crime. /s

We have the highest number of incarcerated people in the world and yet still plenty of crime. Throwing people in jail is not working. Maybe fix the actual problems instead of throwing people away.
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