Brooklyn subway shooting suspect will be detained before his federal trial

• Accused New York City gunman Frank James was ordered held pretrial at his arraignment in federal court.
• James is accused of opening fire on an N train during morning rush hour Tuesday.

A federal judge ordered the 62-year-old man accused of opening fire on a New York City subway train on Tuesday morning to be detained before his trial on a charge of terrorism or other violent acts on public transit.

"The complaint speaks for itself," federal Judge Roanne L. Mann said.

Frank James, 62, appeared in Brooklyn federal court Thursday afternoon at his arraignment on the charge.

A federal prosecutor told the judge that James inflicted terror "that the city has not seen in more than 20 years."

Prosecutors said a "stockpile of weapons" was found at James' Philadelphia apartment and storage unit, and noted many videos he posted to social media in which he referred to death and killing.

In one video, for example, James instructed others how to make a Molotov cocktail, a homemade incendiary device, Assistant US Attorney Sara K. Winik wrote in her request to detain James.

"Among other crimes, the defendant was convicted of reckless endangerment, trespassing, larceny, criminal tampering, and disorderly conduct," Winik wrote. "Individually these offenses could be seen as unremarkable, but taken together they paint a picture of a person with a penchant for defying authority and who is unwilling to conform his conduct to the law.

A public defender representing James didn't oppose the pretrial detention.

The FBI said that James traveled to Brooklyn just after 4 a.m. on Tuesday morning in a U-Haul van that he rented in Philadelphia.

Just before 8:30 a.m., the peak of rush hour, he allegedly tossed a smoke canister on an N train that had pulled into the 36th Street station in Sunset Park, Brooklyn before opening fire inside the train, according to the New York City Police Department.

Ten commuters were shot and over a dozen others were injured in the chaos.

After the shooting, the gunman left the station without being caught, kicking off a manhunt that lasted more than 24 hours.

James — who was named the lone suspect by the NYPD — was arrested Wednesday afternoon in the East Village, after the FBI received a call from a McDonald's.

Wearing a grey t-shirt and blue surgical mask, James wrote on pieces of paper placed in front of him in the courtroom.

James' court-appointed attorney requested that a psychological evaluation be done when he is taken to the detention center where he will be held. The evaluation, which was approved, is different from a competency hearing — which would be ordered later if his defense team intends to pursue a mental disorder defense.

His defense attorney also requested that James be provided with magnesium pills, which he takes for leg cramps.

James was arrested nearly a dozen times in New York and New Jersey over the last 30 years but was able to legally buy the gun he allegedly used in the shooting in Ohio in 2011 because he had no felony conviction.