MAGA hat-wearing hate attacker dodges max sentence for attack on Mexican immigrant; judge says racial animosity unclear

Jul. 12--A MAGA hat-wearing ex-con convicted of shoving a Mexican immigrant onto the subway tracks was spared the maximum sentence Friday by a judge who said she was "troubled" by the question of whether the attack was racially fueled.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Diane Kiesel slapped an eight-year prison term on Willie Ames, 49, who was found guilty in June of assault and other hate crimes for throwing Luis Lopez, 26, onto the tracks at the uptown No. 6 train platform in April 2018.

Because of Ames' 1991 conviction in a fatal stabbing in Virginia, he faced a maximum 15 years behind bars.

But Kiesel said the question of whether the attack was a demonstration of race hatred "troubled me throughout the trial."

Kiesel referred to the disgusted reactions from jury prospects when Ames' lawyer, Glenn Hardy, wore a MAGA hat during jury selection to illustrate that panelists would have to ignore Ames' head gear to be fair.

"It cut to the heart of this difficult and unanswerable question," Kiesel said. "Almost the entire jury panel reacted negatively to that, to the point where some stampeded for the door."

Ames, who is black, testified he wore the red Trump rally hat as a joke. And his lawyer argued Friday the hat "was not part of his political beliefs."

He was accused of calling Mexicans "criminals," as he tussled with the victim, a construction worker.

"You come here and you take our jobs! You bring drugs!" Ames allegedly said.

The judge warned Ames not to take the sentence lightly.

"There's no room for violence in a civilized society and certainly no room for racial animus and hate," she told him.

"You must learn to control you anger," she added. "Unless or until you learn how to do that, you're going to continue to cycle in and out of prison ... as you have done most of your adult life."

Prior to her sentencing, Kiesel shot down Ames' attempt to fire his lawyer, saying it was too late "at this juncture." Ames also argued to the judge that "I did not attack those boys. They attacked me."

Assistant District Attorney Jonathon Junig said the victim is still scarred by the attack.

"In this case, the defendant targeted two individuals on the train who were just trying to get home from work, solely because of how they appeared," he said, referring to Lopez and a friend with him at the time.

Lopez is still "unable to take the subway because he was afraid of taking the subway again."

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