Ellen Brennan Reiche, one of two women charged this week in Seattle for allegedly attempting a terrorist attack on a railroad, was reportedly the deputy field organizer for the Democratic Party in Washington state.

US Attorney Brian Moran announced the charges, saying that the 23-year-old Reiche and Samantha Frances Brooks, 27, were arrested on Saturday night after they allegedly placed a "shunt" on BNSF railroad tracks in Bellingham, Washington.

The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force has been investigating the placement of shunts on BNSF tracks in Washington since January. There have been at least 41 such incidents during that period, causing crossing gates to malfunction, disrupting automatic braking systems and nearly derailing a train pulling tanks of hazardous and flammable chemicals.

An anarchist group called It's Going Down claimed responsibility for the railway attacks on its website, saying it was being done to "fight against colonial invasion" of Wet'suwet'en Indian lands in British Columbia. Bellingham is located about 17 miles south of the Canadian border.