Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson pushed back Tuesday against the Trump administration’s threat to cut off federal transit funding unless the Democratic leaders “take immediate action” to bolster CTA security.
Citing the horrific case of a woman doused with gasoline and set on fire last month aboard a Blue Line train, Federal Transit Administrator Marc Molinaro issued a special directive Monday to increase law enforcement presence on trains and buses, or else risk the federal funding that supports most infrastructure projects.
“Given high crime rates on CTA property, this incident is not isolated and reflects systemic failures in both leadership and accountability on all levels that cannot be tolerated,” Molinaro said in letters to Pritzker and Johnson. “I will not accept the brutal assault of an innocent 26-year-old woman as an inevitable cost of providing public transportation.”
Molinaro ordered the transit agency, whose board members are appointed by the governor and mayor, to come up with a “a verifiable security enhancement plan” and implement it by next week.
CTA officials were reviewing the directive “and will respond within the requested timeline,” a spokesperson said.
Pritzker called it the latest example of “the federal government threatening state and local government with taking away federal funds for a purpose that they’re not allowed to.”
“But we’ve seen that before from Donald Trump: breaking the law,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference, hailing “monumental” transit reform legislation passed by the Illinois General Assembly earlier this fall.
Aside from a sweeping governance and funding overhaul, the $1.5 billion measure includes a law enforcement task force led by the Cook County sheriff’s office, plus a new Office of Transit Safety to develop broader safety strategies. It also calls for a transit ambassador program to deploy unarmed staff at stations.
Pritzker is expected to sign that transit bill into law this month, “so there’s no reason why the president of the United States or the Department of Transportation should be sending a threatening letter to the state,” he said.
“If they read anything, read the newspapers, they would know that action has been taken, is being taken. We want the safest possible and most modern transit system in the entire country, and that’s what we’re prepared to implement,” Pritzker said.
Johnson, who said he takes all of Trump’s funding threats seriously, also pointed to the beefed-up security measures included state’s transit reform package.
“It allows us to actually expand many of the things we’re already doing… Whether it’s determining what the footprint of CPD needs to be — there’s some considerations there. What does a unified security system particularly look like for all of transportation? That’s been discussed,” the mayor said.
“How do we make sure that individuals [on the CTA] who are traumatized are receiving services that are trauma-informed. There are steps that we can take around there. And for permanent housing and opportunities for individuals who use the transportation system as housing — there are greater resources that can be added there.”
Trump went out of his way to criticize the CTA and Johnson after Lawrence Reed, a 50-year-old man with a history of dozens of felony charges against him, was charged with the Blue Line attack.
“They burned this beautiful woman riding on a train. The man was arrested 72 times — 72 times, think of that. And they let him out again. The liberal judges let him out again,” Trump said during an unrelated speech in the White House Rose Garden a few weeks ago.
Johnson has blamed the heinous crime on an “absolute failure” of the criminal justice and mental health systems.
On Tuesday, the mayor openly acknowledged that the CTA has “had some real tough moments. I can admit that.” But he said, “we are still moving in the right direction overall as a city, including on our transportation system.”
Homicides, shootings and most other categories of violent crime have dropped precipitously across Chicago, but crime on the CTA has increased by nearly 10%.
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) vented his anger about that surge last month when Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling and his top brass appeared before the City Council’s Budget Committee to defend the Chicago Police Department’s $2.1 billion budget.
Reilly argued then that armed Chicago police officers need to be riding CTA trains to crack down on riders “smoking marijuana and crack and dealing drugs” on CTA trains, often after evading fares.
Snelling said a new Strategic Decision Support Center dedicated to solving CTA crime had helped police arrest groups of fare jumpers who sometimes ride the system all night preying on passengers. But the superintendent acknowledged that more needs to be done, beyond the $30 million set aside in the city budget for moonlighting cops.
On Tuesday, Johnson was asked whether he agrees with Reilly and others who argue that unarmed security guards with dogs are not enough and that armed and uniformed Chicago police officers need to be riding the CTA trains and patrolling CTA platforms.
“That’s a decision that, I believe, needs to be made collectively… We have to do the things that work. Is there a role for CPD? Of course. Is there a role for security to help support our riders? Absolutely. Are there other ways that we can also address the challenges CTA has, particularly around homelessness and mental health? Absolutely. It requires all of it,” he said.
“But I don’t know if it’s my position at this time to make that absolute declaration without having a more robust conversation… That’s not a decision that I can make in isolation.”
Contributing: David Struett