A 24-year-old Auburn man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a federal hate crime involving bodily injury and a dangerous weapon for an attack on a Black passenger aboard a King County Metro bus in Kent, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Adan C. Hernandez-Mayoral admitted to the charge and is scheduled to be sentenced Mar. 17, 2026, before James L. Robart, prosecutors said. U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced the plea.
Court records state that on Mar. 7, 2024, Hernandez-Mayoral made derogatory comments about Black people while riding a Metro bus. When a Black woman looked toward him, he yelled at her and made additional racist remarks, including referring to her as “Rosa Parks” and telling her to move to the back of the bus, according to the filings.
Prosecutors said the woman moved to the front of the bus to call police and Hernandez-Mayoral followed her. When the bus stopped, he pushed her off the bus and assaulted her, pulling out a knife and thrusting it toward her abdomen multiple times before fleeing. The woman was wearing a heavy coat that prevented the knife from breaking her skin, though the attack caused bodily injury, records state.
As police searched the area, a neighbor reported a man hiding in a yard. Officers said the clothing matched the assailant shown on Metro surveillance video. Hernandez-Mayoral was arrested hiding under a car a short distance from the scene.
Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of no more than 57 months, to be served concurrently with any sentence imposed in related King County Superior and District Court cases. Judge Robart is not bound by the recommendation and may impose any sentence allowed by law.
The case was investigated by the Kent Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office provided assistance and worked with federal prosecutors, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M. Manca for the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorney Tenette R. Smith of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
