A 34-year-old man onboard a flight bound for New Orleans late Nov. 10 who allegedly told crew members he had a bomb is a Honduran national who was deported twice and has a criminal history of making similar threats, U.S. Homeland Security confirmed Nov. 11.
Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto was arrested without incident shortly after the United Airlines flight landed just before midnight at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans, Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office told The Epoch Times.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer for Gomez-Alberto the night he was arrested, the agency reported in a post on X.
“His criminal history includes felony bomb threat, felony threat—terroristic state offenses, and disorderly conduct,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.
Gomez-Alberto has been removed two times from the United States and was released by a judge a third time, pending removal proceedings, according to the agency.
“Americans should NEVER have to face threats like this, especially from an illegal alien who should never have been in our country in the first place,” ICE posted on X.
Gomez-Alberto remained in custody in Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Louisiana Nov. 11. He is facing charges of terrorizing the public and communicating false information of a planned arson, along with two lesser charges, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office records.
The sheriff’s office described the incident onboard the late-night flight, saying a man onboard the aircraft “began acting irrationally” and allegedly told crew members that he had a bomb.
“The aircraft landed safely at the airport, where passengers were deplaned and transported to the terminal,” the sheriff’s office said.
The United Airlines flight 2174 left from Newark at about 9:30 p.m., carrying 46 passengers and six crew members, an airline spokesperson told The Epoch Times.
The aircraft was a Boeing 737 MAX 9, which can hold up to 220 passengers depending on the cabin configuration, according to Boeing.
The Department of Homeland Security flag flies outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) headquarters in Washington on July 17, 2020. (Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)
His partially redacted asylum application released by DHS shows he claimed he was transgender and feared for his life if returned to countries from which he fled.
“I am also afraid that I will be killed—either by private citizens or the police—in both of these countries, because I am transgender.”
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said weak asylum laws allowed Gomez-Alberto to stay in the United States.
“This criminal illegal alien attempted to storm the cockpit, hijack a plane, and claimed he had a bomb,” Mullin said. “This twice-deported criminal illegal alien was allowed into our country because of a weak asylum system that allowed him to game the system.”
It was unclear whether Gomez-Alberto had retained an attorney to represent him on Nov. 11. The Epoch Times was not able to reach him for comment on his charges.
