A Honduran illegal immigrant who was deported from the United States twice and then sprung from ICE custody by a judge allegedly threatened to blow up a United Airlines flight Monday night and tried to storm the cockpit before crew members talked him down. The plane was headed from New Jersey to New Orleans.
Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, 34, has quite the frequent-flier record with Border Patrol. He was arrested three separate times for illegal entry. First deported in September 2011 near El Indio, Texas, then again in October 2014 in Columbus, New Mexico, and nabbed a third time in 2019 near San Ysidro, California. Three strikes, and yet here we are.
That third arrest is where the story takes its predictably maddening turn. United Airlines bomb threat case reveals that in January 2020, a judge ordered Gomez-Alberto released from ICE custody pending removal proceedings. He promptly settled in the Bronx and apparently spent the next several years preparing for his Monday night performance aboard United flight 2174, which was carrying 46 passengers and six crew members.
According to the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and air traffic control audio, Gomez-Alberto changed into all-black clothing before making his move toward the cockpit. The flight crew, to their enormous credit, convinced him to head to the rear of the plane instead, allowing the aircraft to land safely in New Orleans at around 11:15 p.m. That crew deserves a raise. The judge who cut this guy loose in 2020 deserves something else entirely.
Gomez-Alberto was arrested after the plane touched down at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. He’s now charged with communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing, and he’s sitting in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center without bail. His prior criminal history includes felony bomb threat, felony terroristic threat offenses, and disorderly conduct, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
ICE lodged a detainer for Gomez-Alberto on Tuesday with the sheriff’s office. A DHS spokesperson made the administration’s position crystal clear: “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are NOT welcome in the United States.” Funny how that message apparently didn’t reach the judge who thought releasing this guy was a solid plan back in 2020.
Gomez-Alberto remains behind bars while federal and local authorities sort out the charges. ICE’s detainer means that if Jefferson Parish ever thinks about releasing him, the feds will be standing right there with a very different set of travel arrangements. The case is still developing, but one thing is already settled: 46 passengers made it home safe because of a quick-thinking flight crew, no thanks to the immigration system that kept handing this man a return ticket.
