What to Know
- Police say they have arrested a man in connection with a racially charged subway push that happened last week
- Willie P. Ames, 47, of Brooklyn, is charged with three counts of assault and aggravated harassment
- The man at the time of the attack was wearing a 'Make America Great Again' hat and shirt and allegedly shouted racial comments
Police say they have arrested the man who donned a "Make America Great Again" hat and shirt and allegedly shouted racial comments at another man and then pushed him onto the subway tracks last week.
Willie P. Ames, 47, of Brooklyn, was cuffed Thursday evening and is charged with three counts of assault and aggravated harassment, according to the NYPD.
The suspect, allegedly Ames, got into a verbal fight with a 24-year-old man at around 8 p.m. last Friday while on a northbound 4 train approaching Union Square Station.
Police say the suspect made derogatory statements about the Latino victim's ethnicity in the course of the fight. Specifically, he is thought to have accused "Mexicans" of coming to the country to bring drugs and take jobs.
The two men got off the train at 14th Street, where the suspect punched the other man repeatedly before shoving him onto the subway tracks and fleeing to the L train platform, police said.
The victim's friend and a bystander helped him off the tracks; he was treated at a hospital for a head laceration.
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The "Make America Great Again" slogan was first popularized by President Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
