A Honduran national and four-time deportee who has 15 prior charges for assault and other violent crimes struck again last weekend, allegedly shoving an 83-year-old veteran and another bystander onto the New York City subway tracks.
Bairon Posada-Herandez, 34, who has a lengthy rap sheet and illegally re-entered the country for a fifth time, was arrested and charged with attempted murder, attempted assault, assault and reckless endangerment. Those charges could be upgraded, ABC7 Eyewitness News reported late Thursday.
The unprovoked attack occurred around 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 8 at the Lexington Avenue-63rd Street station on the city’s Upper East Side.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on Posada-Herandez and asked New York officials not to release him.
Meet Bairon Posada-Herandez, an illegal alien with a LONG criminal history who has been deported 4 TIMES.
He has just been arrested after he reportedly shoved an 83-year-old Veteran and another individual onto the NYC subway tracks.
THIS is who Democrats protect in their… pic.twitter.com/IshpWDIBhq
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 13, 2026
One of the victims, 30-year-old John Rodriguez, suffered injuries to his shoulder and neck but was reported in stable condition. The 83-year-old Air Force veteran and grandfather, identified as Richard Williams, was taken to a New York City hospital with serious injuries.
ABC7 reported on Thursday that Williams underwent surgery for a brain bleed. Following the surgery, the victim “did not have any brain activity, meaning that he is brain dead.”
Posada-Hernandez was arrested on Tuesday, March 10—the same day ICE placed a detainer on him, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shared in a news release.
“Bairon Posada-Herandez is a serial criminal, and four-time deported illegal alien from Honduras who should never have been able to walk our streets and harm innocent Americans,” Deputy Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said. “We are praying for the victims and their families.”
Bis added that “DHS is calling upon New York sanctuary politicians to commit to this ICE detainer and not release this heinous criminal back into New York communities.”
Posada-Hernandez’s criminal history includes 15 prior charges for various offenses, including aggravated assault, simple assault, domestic violence, obstruction of police, possession of a weapon and drug possession.
According to various reports, Rodriguez was standing on the southbound F/Q platform when he was suddenly pushed from behind and fell onto the tracks.
On Monday, Rodriguez, of Queens, spoke exclusively with Eyewitness News and said he was on his way to work when the man shoved him out of nowhere.
“I panicked, I started asking for help, not only for me but for the other man that was pushed,” he told ABC7 Eyewitness News.
Video footage from the subway attack surfaced this week that shows the first victim, Rodriguez, on the tracks shortly after the incident. A good Samaritan tried to help the younger victim after he was pushed.
Footage appears to show the suspect, wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, pacing on the platform moments afterward, WPIX 11 News reported.
Then, Posada-Hernandez allegedly approached the elderly Williams from behind and pushed him onto the tracks.
Williams’ family told various news outlets that he is an Air Force veteran and that he and his wife have been married for 55 years. He has three daughters and two granddaughters.
“He sustained significant head injuries. He’s on a respirator right now. He’s not awake. He’s not responding,” his daughter Debbie Williams told WPIX 11 earlier in the week. “We’re praying for a miracle.”
Posada-Hernandez, reportedly a homeless man, denied pushing the victims onto the tracks when he was questioned by WPIX11.
He was arrested in Brooklyn at a shelter after police said they received a tip, ABC7 News reported. That outlet said he has a prior conviction in New Jersey for entering the country illegally, and a conviction in Texas for re-entering illegally.
DHS officials said Posada-Hernandez first entered the country on Jan. 2, 2008, and has been deported four different times. The last time was in July 2020. He illegally reentered the country a fifth time at an unknown date and location.
He was arraigned in the subway incident on Wednesday. He pleaded not guilty and is being held on bail of $100,000 cash $300,000 insured bond, or $300,000 partially secured surety bond, according to court records.
DHS recently announced that 5% of the entire population of Honduras entered the United States under President Joe Biden.
Nicaragua, Cuba and Haiti also had a massive influx of their populations illegally enter the U.S. under Biden, with DHS noting the majority of crossings occurred between February 2021 to January 2025.
In a recent social media post highlighting Honduras, DHS said Hondurans sent remittances back home “making up 27% of the Honduran economy and taking $5.8 BILLION from the American People.”
Many of those illegal migrants headed for sanctuary jurisdictions such as New York City, which put migrants up in five-star hotels and offered them other free services.
The New York Police Department said so far this year, there have been nine subway pushes, which is up compared to three this time last year, ABC7 News reported
In February, DHS condemned New York City’s Mayor Zohran Mamdani for signing an Executive Order to protect and shield “violent criminal illegal aliens to reoffend and create more innocent victims,” DHS said.
Mamdani’s action followed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s legislative proposal to bar local police departments from partnering and cooperating with ICE law enforcement.
As of February, there were more than 7,110 criminal illegals in custody across the state of New York with an active detainer.
Their crimes include 148 homicides, 717 assaults, 134 burglaries, 106 robberies, 235 dangerous drugs offenses, 152 weapons offenses, and 260 sexual predatory offenses.
