MAGA Hat-Wearing Man Pushed Immigrant Onto Subway Tracks, Charged With Hate Crime

A Man wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat, who was arrested for shoving a Mexican immigrant onto subway tracks in New York City in April, was charged with a hate crime on Wednesday.

Willie Ames, 47, reportedly made derogatory statements about Mexican Americans and also got into a verbal argument with two men at the subway station.

He then dragged one of them off the train by his clothing and hit him three times on the station platform before knocking him onto the tracks. His friend helped him get back onto the platform, Buzzfeed News reported.

He later fled the platform and got on to another subway train heading to Brooklyn, police said.

“The defendant was identified through video surveillance and he was apprehended days later by U.S. Marshals,” an official statement by Manhattan district attorney Cy Vance said.

“The defendant is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with Attempted Assault in the First and Third Degrees as Hate Crimes, Assault in the Second and Third Degrees as Hate Crimes, and Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree,” the statement read.

“Willie Ames is charged with selectively ambushing two young men on their way home from work for no other reason than their perceived nationality. He pummeled his victims without provocation and with so much force that one was knocked onto the live subway track of one of the busiest stations in the City,” Vance said Wednesday.

“At approximately 8:15 p.m. on April 20, 2018, Ames approached two men — who were 24-years-old and 26-years-old, respectively — on a northbound 4 train and made several derogatory statements about Mexican-Americans. When the train stopped at the Union Square station moments later, the defendant dragged the 26-year-old victim off the train by his clothing and struck him three times on the station platform, knocking him onto the train tracks. He then attempted to strike the 24-year-old victim. The 24-year-old victim lifted his friend back onto the station platform with the assistance of a bystander, and a witness called 911,” the indictment and documents filed in court said.

The victim, identified as Luis Lopez who came to America six years ago from Mexico, told the New York Daily News he did not why he was targeted.

"He started yelling that I was there to take his job and that we bring drugs here,” Lopez said.

"I fell head-first. My head hit the railing. I tried to get up, but lost consciousness. I couldn't move. My friend jumped in to get me out. He saved my life,” he added. “Thank God there wasn't a train coming — it would have been a sure death. I would have died if it wasn't for him."

Lopez was treated at Bellevue Hospital for cuts on his head. Ames has a long criminal history including charges of throwing bleach at people in a deli in 2008 and an attempted robbery conviction in 2011.