Auburn man sentenced for Metro bus hate crime in Kent

Published 3:36 pm Tuesday, June 2, 2026

A 25-year-old Auburn man received a prison sentence of four years and six months under a federal hate crime for violently assaulting and stabbing a Black female passenger because of her race on a King County Metro bus in 2024.

Adan Hernandez-Mayoral was sentenced Tuesday, June 2 in U.S. District Court in Seattle for an incident in which he used a dangerous weapon, a knife, to cause bodily injury to the woman and he did so because of her race, according to a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release.

“The facts of what happened on that bus are despicable,” said U.S. District Judge James L. Robart. “It was a prolonged intentional assault on a Black woman…. We need to protect the public from this defendant.”

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd released a statement.

“Racially motivated attacks such as this one shock the conscience of our community,” Floyd said. “This office will join with our state and local partners to ensure these crimes are investigated and those who commit them will be held accountable. Such hate has no place here.”

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon, of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, also released a statement.

“Today, we have delivered justice with the sentencing of Adan Hernandez-Mayoral for his brutal, racially motivated attack on the victim,” Dhillon said. “Assaults like these destroy our communities by breeding fear and distrust of public places and facilities. The Justice Department will continue to aggressively prosecute such cases to restore safety and confidence in our cities’ streets and transit systems.”

According to court documents, Hernandez-Mayoral boarded a King County Metro bus on March 7, 2024, and immediately began making racist comments about Black people. Hernandez-Mayoral started antagonizing a Black woman, and yelled, “I don’t like Black people, f***in’ hate ’em.”

The defendant continued to yell racist remarks, referring to the woman as “Rosa Parks” and telling her to move to the back of the bus. When the woman attempted to move away from him, Hernandez-Mayoral followed her, while hiding a knife behind his back. When the bus doors opened at a stop, Hernandez-Mayoral grabbed the woman, pushing her off the bus and into a fence.

He immediately began beating her all over her body and, after she fell to the ground, stomping on her. He then used the knife to repeatedly and violently stab the woman, whose thick coat spared her from suffering serious injuries from Hernandez-Mayoral’s attack. Hernandez-Mayoral fled the scene but was located and arrested by officers from the Kent Police Department later that evening.

“This was a horrific and deeply disturbing racially motivated assault that targeted an innocent member of our community because of the color of her skin,” Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla said. “I am pleased to have reached this conviction on her behalf. Hate-fueled violence has no place in Kent.”

On Dec. 23, 2025, Hernandez-Mayoral pleaded guilty to hate crime causing bodily injury, admitting that he used a dangerous weapon, a knife, to cause bodily injury to the woman and he did so because of her race and color.

Restitution to the victim will be determined at a later date, according to the DOJ.