Trump Administration Opens MARTA Safety Probe After 2 Stabbings and Violence Rate 3 Times U.S. Average
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Jun 4
Trump Administration Opens MARTA Safety Probe After 2 Stabbings and Violence Rate 3 Times U.S. Average
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jun 4
Summary
Federal Transit Administration investigators gave MARTA 15 days to hand over safety plans, assault reports, training records and security-spending details in a new audit of worker and rider safety.
Sean Duffy ordered the review after two recent stabbings, including the killing of 66-year-old Margaret Swan, saying assaults, robberies and rapes on MARTA trains run more than three times the national average.
FTA said MARTA reported one of only two transit-worker assault fatalities nationwide in fiscal 2025, while its serious personal-security incident rate has been nearly twice the national average since fiscal 2024.
John Elijah Matthews, 25, faces a federal mass-transit violence charge and local felony murder charges after prosecutors said he stabbed Swan 18 to 20 times on a moving train before officers arrested him at Oakland City Station.
The audit will also test whether MARTA properly carried out its safety plan and used federal and other security funds effectively, widening scrutiny beyond the latest killing to the system's broader crime response.