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I'm Sidney Sumner. Federal authorities stepped in on Wednesday and charged a man who set a woman on fire on a Chicago transit train with terrorism.

The federal charge against 50-year-old Lawrence Reed carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

The 26-year-old woman was hospitalized in critical condition after the attack on Chicago's

Blue Line train downtown. The incident took place just before 9.30 p.m. Monday as the train

pulled into the Clark Lake Station. The suspect poured gasoline on the woman and lit it. He fled the train

ahead of the woman engulfed in flames, who has not been named. Bystanders had extinguished

the blaze by the time first responders arrived, but the victim was severely burned on her body and head.

Although witnesses said the suspect and the woman argued before the incident, federal court

records say

Reed doused her with gasoline from a plastic bottle without comment and tried to ignite it

as she tried to fight him off. Surveillance video showed her running from one end of the train car

to another before Reed lit the bottle he carried the gasoline in and used it to set the woman

on fire. Chicago police said Reed

made incriminating statements after he was taken into custody and had burns on his right

hand. Reed was erratic during his initial court appearance on Wednesday, claiming he was guilty,

a Chinese citizen, and that he wanted to represent himself. Federal officials complained

at a news conference that Reed should

have been in jail because of his violent criminal history and his pending criminal cases, although they

declined to say what those were. ATF's special agent Christopher Amman said, quote, read had plenty of

second chances by the criminal justice system, and as a result, you have an innocent victim in the hospital,

...