>>17614 (OP)At the time of this week’s fiery horror, Reed was out on electronic home monitoring stemming from an alleged incident where he knocked a hospital social worker unconscious in August.
Prosecutors had asked for Reed to remain locked up but a judge overruled them — leaving him free to roam the streets.
Despite his prior run-ins, US Attorney Andrew Boutros said he wasn’t aware of Reed ever legally being declared mentally incompetent.
During a Friday court hearing, federal prosecutor Aaron Bond said Reed should be locked up, arguing he’s a “clear danger to the community,” according to a report by KVUE.
“He has been given chance after chance after chance,” Bond said.
Reed insisted he represent himself in court Friday and agreed he should be behind bars because he doesn’t “feel safe in society,” the outlet reported.
“I’m a target from society. I don’t feel safe out there. I think for my safety, it’s best for me to be detained,” Reed said.
The judge ordered Reed to be held without bail pending trial.
Mayor Brandon Johnson was among those to rail against the “absolute failure” of the system in the wake of Reed’s arrest.
“This is an absolute failure of our criminal justice system as well as our mental health institutions,” Johnson said.
“This individual was charged with dozens of felonies over the past three decades. He was clearly seriously mentally disturbed and was a danger to himself and to others. The system that we had failed to intervene. And now we have a woman who is fighting for her life and I am praying for her and her full recovery. This is a horrific tragedy that should have never happened.”
The woman, who hasn’t been identified, remains in hospital in critical condition with severe burns to her head and body, authorities said.
The attack has drawn comparisons to the August stabbing on a commuter train in Charlotte, North Carolina, that left 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska dead.
“This horrific attack is EXACTLY why we need communities to take safety seriously. Blue cities cannot allow another Iryna Zarutska to happen,” Duffy Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X.