Subway Shover In MAGA Hat Indicted On Hate Crime Charges: DA

UNION SQUARE, NY -- The Brooklyn man who wore a 'Make America Great Again' hat as he shoved a Latino man onto the subway tracks at Union Square has been formally charged with multiple hate crimes, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Willie Ames, 47, was indicted on four hate crime charges - including assault and attempted assault - and an aggravated harassment charge in New York State Supreme Court, said Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance.

Ames allegedly attacked two fellow commuters, ages 24 and 26, on the platform of the 14th Street - Union Square subway station at around 8:15 p.m on April 20 after yelling racist slurs at both men aboard a northbound 4 train, according to the indictment.

"You guys come here to take our jobs and you bring drugs," Ames yelled at the men, according to the criminal complaint filed against him. He also called the man a "f------ Mexican" and said "you people are dirty, you people are nasty," Patch previously reported.

When the train stopped at Union Square, Ames dragged the 26-year-old man off the subway car by his clothing and attacked him, punching him three times in the head before knocking him onto the train tracks, prosecutors said.

He then attempted to hit the man's 24-year-old friend but fled the station when a witness called 911, police said. The 24-year-old was able lift his friend from the train tracks with help from a bystander.

“This defendant’s attacks on two New Yorkers were attacks on all New Yorkers," Vance said. “The First Amendment guarantees the rights of bigots to spew hateful, fearful, anti-immigrant rhetoric on television and Twitter. It does not authorize acts of violence against New Yorkers."

Ames, whose last known address was an East Williamsburg homeless shelter, was caught on surveillance footage wearing the signature red "Make America Great Again" hat associated with President Donald Trump's campaign. U.S. Marshals arrested him less than a week later.

(Lead photo via NYPD)