Freight Train Riders of America
The Freight Train Riders of America (FTRA) are a group of homeless people who move mainly in the north of the United States and who regularly illegally travel on freight trains.
FTRA was founded by homeless Vietnam War veterans in a bar in Montana in the 1980s. The initials originally stood for "Fuck The Reagan Administration!". The current name was later adopted.
Spokane policeman Bob Grandinetti specializes in investigating the FTRA, both while he is on duty and when he is retired. He found a link between members of this group and numerous criminal acts: fraud with food stamps, trafficking in illegal drugs, a variety of thefts, and brutal assaults and murders of other homeless people who regularly illegally traveled on freight trains.
The members of the FTRA see themselves as a group of homeless people who are only organized for mutual support and deny these accusations accordingly.
Some non-FTRA homeless people doubt Grandinetti's assumptions and point to positive experiences they had with FTRA members. Other homeless people point to bad experiences they had with FTRA members. It is also confusing that many employees of the railway companies dutifully refer the existence of the FTRA to the realm of myth, while some others do not.
It is believed that about 1,000 members of this group are regularly on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway , which stretches from Minneapolis to Seattle .
Some swastika graffiti was attributed to FTRA members. This led to speculation as to the extent to which this group could have a racist orientation. Comparisons were also made with the Aryan Brotherhood . However, because no other evidence has been provided for these assumptions, they were mostly not taken seriously. However, the FTRA has often been compared to the Hells Angels by other homeless people .
A series of murders of travelers along the rails by serial killer Robert Joseph Silveria, Jr. (aka Sidetrack) led to heightened press and police attention, which was eventually reflected in coverage on America's Most Wanted TV show . Silveria claims not to have been a member of the FTRA. But this is denied by the former police officer Bill Palmini in his book Murder on the Rails . Robert Silveria is serving two life sentences for his murders.
Individual evidence
- ↑ William G. Palmini, jr. and Tanya Chalupa: Murder on the Rails: The True Story of the Detective who Unlocked the Shocking Secrets of the Boxcar Serial Killer. New Horizon Press, Far Hills (New Jersey) 2004, ISBN 0-88282-243-8 .