BELLINGHAM, Wash. — A Bellingham woman was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for sabotaging railroad tracks near the U.S.-Canada border just before a train carrying crude oil was due to pass through.
Ellen Brennan Reiche, 28, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle for committing an act of violence against a railroad carrier in November. She was convicted in September for placing a device that interferes with train signals on the tracks apparently as part of a campaign to protest construction of a pipeline across British Columbia.
Her co-defendant, Samantha Brooks, pleaded guilty in July to a terrorist attack and violence against a railroad carrier. Brooks, 24, was sentenced in October to six months in prison and three years of supervised release. She was ordered to complete four months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service.
On the night of Nov. 28, Reiche and Brooks were seen on surveillance video walking on train tracks near a crossing in Bellingham, according to records and trial testimony. When Whatcom County deputies responded to the scene that night, they detained the two suspects for trespassing. A device known as a "shunt" was found on the tracks nearby.
A shunt is a device that disrupts the systems indicating a train is on the tracks.
“Placing a shunt on active railroad tracks puts lives in danger – to drivers preparing to cross the tracks who may not get any warning lights of an approaching train, and to the homeowners in the area who could be endangered by a train derailment,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “In this case the shunt was placed just prior to the arrival of a train with 97 tanker cars loaded with crude oil. Thankfully, the device was discovered and removed before it could cause a tragedy.”
Reiche was carrying a paper bag containing wire, a drill, magnetic adhesive and gloves, according to records. The wire was similar to that used in shunting incidents, according to court records. The device placed on the tracks could have interfered with railroad crossing warnings.
A train carrying crude oil was scheduled to come through soon after the two were detained.
The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force and BNSF police investigated the placement of 41 shunts on the tracks since Jan. 19, 2020. In 10 instances, shunts were placed in areas that disrupt the cross guards where tracks cross streets, according to court records. In one occasion, shunts triggered an automatic braking system on a train carrying hazardous and combustible material - the braking system caused a portion of the train to decouple.
