NEWNow you can listen to Fox News articles!
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the Trump administration’s commitment to holding Atlanta’s “Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA)” “accountable” following the fatal stabbing of a grandmother, announcing Friday that the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is actively reviewing the transit system’s safety and security programs.
In an X post on Friday, Duffy said the FTA has launched a comprehensive review of MARTA’s safety and security rules, as well as the dangers to passengers and employees.
He noted that while MARTA met the government’s initial response deadline and assured the administration that it was taking action, the FTA “won’t stop there.”
John Elijah Matthews is charged with inciting mass transit violence after allegedly stabbing 66-year-old Margaret Swan on a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) train. (@SecDuffy/X)
ATLANTA TRAIN STABBING SUSPECT FACES NEW CHARGE AS HE ATTACKS DEATH RISK IN GRANDMOTHER’S KILLING.
“We are reviewing all aspects of their program to ensure that significant improvements are made,” Duffy wrote in the post. “This includes pouring over hundreds of pages of documents and making site visits to see the situation on the ground. We will continue to work to protect the Atlanta system for commuters and transit workers alike.”
A strict federal review of MARTA was launched after the unprovoked killing of Margaret Swan, 66.
Swan was riding a northbound MARTA train near Oakland City Station on May 30 when John Elijah Matthews, 25, approached him, reached into his pocket and pulled out a folding knife.
John Elijah Matthews allegedly started the attack by cutting the victim, identified as Margaret Swan, just seconds away from where she was sitting on a train approaching the Oakland City MARTA station. (MARTA | Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)
DISTURBING CONTENT WARNING: UNLAWFUL ALLEGED KILLER OF GRANDMOTHER GEORGIA FACES DISTURBING NEW CHARGES
According to prosecutors and a Fulton County arrest warrant, Matthews cut Swan’s throat and stabbed her 18 to 20 times in the neck and chest as she screamed in self-defense.
Matthews allegedly threw Swan to the ground before exiting the train at the Oakland City station, where MARTA officers arrested him with a bloody knife.
Without first aid from first responders, Swan was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police immediately arrested John Elijah Matthews near the train after several witnesses witnessed the act of violence. Paramedics tried to save his life, but the 66-year-old victim died at the scene. (WAGA-TV)
‘CRASHED’ AT ATLANTA AIRPORT AS POLICE ARRESTED MAN WITH AR-15 ALLEGEDLY THREATENING TO ‘SHOOT HIM’
Witnesses confirmed that there was no communication between the two before the attack.
Matthews is facing a charge of unlawful homicide and has been charged with committing an act of violence using a deadly weapon with the intent to kill multiple people on a transit system.
If convicted, he could face life in prison or the death penalty, a decision that will be made by Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.
DUFFY WARNS CHICAGO, BOSTON TRANSIT PLANS COULD BE RISK FOR FEDERAL SUPPORT AMID EMERGING VIOLENCE
In an X post earlier this month, Duffy said the rates of assaults, robberies and rapes on MARTA trains are “OVER THREE TIMES the national average.”
The FTA audit aims to examine whether MARTA has properly implemented its safety programs to protect passengers and how it has allocated federal funds intended to improve safety.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
MARTA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
