“We have reviewed FBI holdings and to date have found no record of an investigation or prior knowledge of Frank R. James by an FBI office before the shooting,” an FBI spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email.
“Reports that the FBI’s New Mexico Field Office previously investigated Frank R. James are inaccurate,” the spokesperson added.
Reports citing anonymous sources said James was previously known to the FBI but was cleared after more than one interview in 2019.
The Epoch Times has filed a Freedom of Information Act request for any FBI records concerning James.
James, 62, created numerous YouTube videos and Facebook posts suggesting a propensity towards violence, including a number where he talked about carrying out shootings, according to an Epoch Times review of his accounts, which have since been removed.
James was arrested nine times in New York between 1992 and 1998 for possession of burglary tools, a criminal sex act, criminal tampering, and theft, according to the NYPD.
He was arrested three times in New Jersey between 1991 and 2007 for trespass, larceny, and disorderly conduct.
James was born in New York City and has resided in recent years in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, his arrest warrant states.
A Milwaukee Police Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email that the agency is not involved in the probe into the New York shooting and declined to answer whether the agency had had any interactions with James before the shooting.
A Philadelphia Police Department spokesman said the agency had no contact with the suspect.
Mike Driscoll, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office, urged members of the public to reach out to the bureau if they have information on James, who was taken into custody on Wednesday afternoon.
“We need to hear from you so we can fully understand all the events that have occurred over the last 30 hours,” Driscoll said during a news conference announcing the arrest. “It’s crucial that we receive the assistance of the public as we piece this case together.”
The FBI is investigating the attack with the NYPD, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and other law enforcement partners.
There are no indications any other individuals were involved in the attack, New York Mayor Eric Adams said on MSNBC on Wednesday.
