On Thanksgiving, they’re rolling out their own volunteer patrols, as 10 members of the Violence Interrupters will patrol the CTA. They did a test run on Wednesday, handing out flyers.
The volunteers said they will be on CTA trains to spot and stop violence before it happens.
“The majority of the violence that’s being perpetrated on the CTA is preventable,” said Ieliot Jackson, a street outreach worker with Violence Interrupters.
Last week, 21-year-old Bethany MaGee was set on fire on a Blue Line train in the loop.
Security video shows the suspect, Lawrence Reed — who was on electronic monitoring at the time for a previous aggravated battery charge — douse her in gasoline and ignite it.
The Violence Interrupters said nothing has changed at CTA since that attack, so they’re stepping in.
“If we were on the train, we may have been able to kind of see it in his demeanor and his behavior, and stop him before he threw the gasoline on the lady,” said Violence Interrupters founder Tio Hardiman
The group is asking the Mayor Brandon Johnson and CTA leaders to back a pilot program in which volunteers would patrol the Red and Blue lines – the CTA’s two busiest train lines – from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., watching crowded trains and de-escalating conflict.
“The CTA is like the lifeline of Chicago. It’s the heartbeat, so we have to make that safe,” said crisis responder Rodney Phillips. “We have a problem on CTA. We have homelessness. We have mental health.”
The nonprofit provides training, but the initial plan does not include volunteers keeping watch during off-peak hours.
The CTA is already spending more than $30 million on an active security contract with Action K-9.
The Violence Interrupters said a portion of that funding should support prevention, not just enforcement.
“Us as outreach workers who have been doing the work and boots on the ground, we have built the relationship with the everyday riders of CTA,” Phillips said.
The Violence Interrupters said they have not heard back from the mayor’s office and the CTA about their request to discuss their plan.
“Everyone is trying to get more but give less. This is the situation that we find ourselves in,” Jackson said. “If the mayor is willing to sit down, if CTA’s staff, the CEO, are willing to sit down, we could actually prevent the majority of the violence, the threat of violence, that’s happening on CTA, which is the heartbeat of our city.”
The mayor’s office said the city funds a number of community violence intervention organizations, and the mayor’s 2026 budget proposal includes more funding to expand that partnership.
The Violence Interrupters said they’re moving forward with or without city support, hoping their presence can stop an attack like this from ever happening again.