‘I’m full of hate, anger, and bitterness’: Brooklyn subway suspect Frank James wanted ‘more mass shootings’ but was afraid of prison

In a video posted to his YouTube page in July 2020 titled The Good Ole Days, Frank James filmed himself riding the D train on the New York City subway.

The footage, shot pre-pandemic in August 2019, is taken from Mr James’ point of view, and in it he appears to be sizing up other passengers on the train, and holds a finger in front of the camera as he mumbles inaudibly to himself.

“That is a dry run,” one user commented after Tuesday’s mass shooting in the Brooklyn subway.

“It’s like we’re seeing the world thru his eyes and hearing him talk to himself,” another wrote.

In more than 400 posts to his YouTube account Prophet of Truth 88, Mr James posted unhinged rants about racism, homelessess, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and police brutality.

The account, which was terminated on Wednesday for “violating Community Guidelines”, offers a chilling glimpse into Mr James’ migratory life: one seemingly without contact with friends or family, in which he explained to his online audience all the ways in which the world has wronged him, and how he intended to pay it back.

Mr James, 62, was named a suspect on Wednesday morning in the attack on the Brooklyn subway which resulted in 10 riders being shot. Five were critically wounded, and 18 more were injured from shrapnel and smoke inhalation.

The NYPD used a screenshot from the account in a release appealing for information about Mr James. On Wednesday afternoon, Mr James was arrested in the East Village neighbourhood of New York. He faces a federal charge of a terror attack on mass transit.

In an expletive-filled clip posted just a day before the attacks titled DOMESTICATED AVERAGES, Mr James spoke about how he identified with those who committed acts of extreme violence.

“I’ve been through a lot of s***, where I can say I wanted to kill people. I wanted to watch people die right in front of my f***ing face immediately. But I thought about the fact that, hey man, I don’t want to go to no f***ing prison.”

In other videos, Mr James, who is Black, expressed his disdain for African-Americans, what he called “slave culture”, and his desire to see more mass shootings.

“There has to be more mass shootings to make a n***er understand… it’s not about the shooter, it’s about the environment in which he is, he has to exist.”

He would often film himself drinking alone while speaking to the camera. One entry shows a row of empty bottles of spirits lined up in his Airbnb room.

Mr James, who grew up in New York, showed particular animosity towards Mayor Eric Adams, whose security detail has been increased since the shooting.

He said he had been a “victim” of New York’s mental health programme, and that his experiences as an in-patient at psychiatric facilities in the Bronx and New Jersey had “made me more dangerous”.

“I’m 63 now full of hate, full of anger, and full of bitterness.”

A nationwide manhunt was underway on Wednesday for Mr James, who seemingly vanished without trace from the scene of the attack at the 36th Street subway station in Sunset Park on Tuesday morning.

Witnesses told how a man wearing a gas mask and green construction vest threw smoke canisters in the air as the N train pulled into the Brooklyn station just before 8.30am, before firing at least 33 times with a Glock 9-millimeter automatic handgun.

Police say he would have wounded or even killed more, but his weapon had jammed during the attack.

Xural.com