In New York subway shooting, suspect's YouTube account key in probe
- James was believed to have rented a van possibly connected to the horrific subway shooting in New York.
After hours of manhunt over the New York subway shooting, the New York Police Department arrested a 'person of interest' - Frank James - on Wednesday. As the investigation continues, the police were revealed as saying in reports that a prime trove of evidence is James' YouTube videos, and his account is also under probe.
Reportedly, Frank James had posted several videos on his YouTube channel called “prophet oftruth88697” which had over 700 subscribers. Race, violence, racism in America, New York City's new mayor, the state of mental health services, 9/11, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and his struggles with mental illnesses are some of the topics he spoke about. YouTube is now reported to have removed the account.
One of his videos stands out for the probe wherein he can be seen raising his finger to point out passengers one by one from a packed New York City subway car.
Also read: What we know about Brooklyn attack 'person of interest': 5 points on Frank James
In another video posted on March 27 - he ranted about too many homeless people on the subway and put the blame on New York City's mayor. “Every car I went to was loaded with homeless people. It was so bad, I couldn't even stand," he said in the video.
In a clip posted on April 6, the accused spoke about the treatment of black people and said “And so the message to me is: I should have gotten a gun, and just started shooting.”
Just a day before the shooting, James criticized the crime against black people in his video and said that things would change is “certain people” were “stomped, kicked and tortured out of their comfort zone.”
Taking on the moniker “Prophet of Doom”, James in a video said, “This nation was born in violence, it's kept alive by violence or the threat thereof, and it's going to die a violent death.”
Also read: New York shooting| Gunman fired 33 times in Brooklyn subway, say cops: 10 points
James was believed to have rented a van possibly connected to the horrific subway shooting that took place on early Tuesday morning at the 36th Street Subway Station in Sunset Park around 8:30 a.m. ET, said investigators.
According to the authorities, around 33 rounds were fired by the gunman. Over 20 people were left injured - ten were reportedly hit directly by the gunfire while 13 more people suffered from smoke inhalation or were otherwise injured, they said.
(With inputs from AP)
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