MAGA-hat wearing suspect in subway attack arrested, NYPD says
NEW YORK -- The NYPD arrested a Brooklyn man Thursday who is suspected of allegedly punching and pushing a man onto the tracks in what investigators have dubbed a hate crime, CBS New York reports. Police say 47-year-old Willie P. Ames, wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat, started fighting with a 24-year-old Hispanic man on a subway train as it was approaching Union Square on Friday around 8:15 p.m.
Ames allegedly started making multiple derogatory remarks regarding the victim's ethnicity. He then followed the victim off the train and punched him in the head multiple times.
Police say Ames then pushed the victim onto the tracks before running off. Luckily, a friend helped the victim to safety.
The victim was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for a minor head wound.
On Monday, police detained another black man wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat on the Upper East Side, but he turned out to be the wrong man. Police cleared him after making a few calls and apologized.
Ames is charged with three counts of assault and one count of aggravated harassment.