Washington Woman Pleads Guilty To Targeting Train Tracks In Terror Attack

A Bellingham woman had pleaded guilty to being involved in a thwarted terrorist attack on a railway in northwestern Washington, according to the Associated Press (AP) via KIRO 7.

Samantha Frances Brooks and Ellen Brennan Reiche, who is also from Bellingham, are accused of putting a shunt on tracks in late November 2020. These devices cause trains to automatically brake and can disable railroad crossing guards, investigators said. Both women were arrested that same month.

Come July 9, Brooks has pleaded guilty to her role in the scheme in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, The Bellingham Herald reported. A judge accepted her plea deal last week, AP added.

Federal court records show that Brooks acted with “the intent to cause [Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway] trains to delay operating." Court records say she faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, a fine of $250,000 and up to three years probation, but officials agreed to recommend a lighter sentence as part of her plea agreement.

As for Reiche, she did not plead guilty and awaits trial.

"Since Jan. 19, 2020, there have been at least 41 similar attacks along BNSF track in Whatcom and Skagit counties north of Seattle in which shunts have been placed, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The FBI’s Terrorism Task Force has been investigating the incidents," reporters learned.

Authorities believe some of the attacks were in protest of the construction of the natural gas pipeline across British Columbia through Indigenous land. Critics say it will cause more environmental damage in the area, and the pipeline infringes on the rights of First Nations people in the region.