A Black man who wore a Make America Great Again hat is now paying a hefty price for nearly killing a Mexican man at on a Manhattan subway platform. Willie Ames, 47, is now facing up to 15 years in prison.
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The New York Post reports he was convicted today after a day and a half of deliberations. Originally, he was charged with a hate crime but he acquitted. Instead, he was convicted of lesser bias-driven assault counts including aggravated harassment.
The Post reports, “Ames faces up to 15 years on the top count but he has a felony record, including for a murder in Virginia, and likely faces additional time because of his violent rap sheet.”
BuzzFeed reports, on April 26, Ames was making derogatory statements about Mexicans at the Union Square subway station in New York City. He was reportedly saying Mexicans were in America to take jobs and they were transporting drugs — all Trump one-liners. He then began screaming the hateful words at two people who appeared to be Mexican. He reportedly dragged Luis Lopez, 26, off the train, hit him three times and shoved him onto the subway tracks. Lopez told The New York Daily News, he hit his head on the railing and went unconscious, but his friend was there to help him, “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,”
Ames is now being charged with a hate crime.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance said at the time, “This defendant’s attacks on two New Yorkers were attacks on all New Yorkers, as alleged in the indictment. Willie Ames is charged with selectively ambushing two young men on their way home from work for no other reason than their perceived nationality.”
This is another example of how Trump rhetoric empowers people to spit their hate. We are happy to see justice has been served.
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