Suspect in Manhattan subway shove attack deported four times, had 15 arrests on record

Federal officials said on Thursday that Bairon Hernandez, an illegal Honduran migrant accused of shoving two Manhattan subway riders onto the tracks, was a “serial criminal” who had been deported four times before the alleged attack.The Department of Homeland Security said Hernandez’s rap sheet included at least 15 arrests for various charges, including aggravated assault, possession of a weapon, and domestic violence. Federal officials said he also faced previous charges of simple assault, drug possession, and obstruction of police, New York Post reported.Hernandez was arrested and charged on Tuesday with attempted murder, attempted assault, and reckless endangerment, two days after he allegedly pushed 83-year-old Air Force veteran Richard Williams and Jhon Pena, 30, onto the roadbed at the Lexington-63rd Street station on the Upper East Side.

DHS said Hernandez, 34, first entered the US in January 2008 and had been deported four times, but kept coming back in illegally. DHS said his most recent deportation was in 2020 during the first Trump administration, and it was unclear when he re-entered the country.The revelations sparked outrage from one of the victims on Thursday.“Now I’m pissed, now I’m upset,” said Debbie Williams, the daughter of the veteran who is clinging to life after the attack.

“How the f–k did he get back here?” Debbie Williams told The Post.“I want him to go to the Venezuela prison, the worst place he could go to,” she added. “I want him to suffer for the rest of his life. Prison justice would be appropriate.”Pena suffered non-life-threatening injuries.Hernandez is facing charges of first-degree assault and first-degree attempted assault, according to a criminal complaint by Manhattan prosecutors.DHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis called the suspect a “serial criminal” who should “never have been able to walk our streets and harm innocent Americans.”