Twice-deported Honduran man arrested after alleged bomb threat on United Airlines flight

DHS identified the suspect as Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, a Honduran national previously deported twice, who allegedly threatened to bomb a flight and attempted to enter the cockpit.

A man was arrested after allegedly claiming that he had a bomb in his backpack and trying to storm the cockpit during a United Airlines flight from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) on Monday.

He was detained by the flight crew at the rear of the aircraft following the incident, before the plane successfully landed in New Orleans, where local police arrested the suspect.

Authorities, including the Department of Homeland Security, have since identified the individual as Honduras-born Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto.

DHS, in a Tuesday evening post to X/Twitter, called Gomez-Alberto "a criminal illegal alien."

According to the department, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE), which is under DHS, "lodged a detainer" for the suspect on Tuesday.

Individual suspected of threatening United Airlines flight with bomb has criminal history, DHS says

The suspect's criminal history includes "felony bomb threat, felony threat, terroristic state offenses, and disorderly conduct," DHS said.

He has also previously been deported twice and released from custody a third time "pending removal proceedings, by a judge," DHS noted.

US media reports say this third instance involved being detained by ICE agents before a judge ordered his release in January 2020.

"Under President [Donald] Trump and [DHS] Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin, criminal illegal aliens who try to HIJACK AIRPLANES are NOT welcome in the United States," DHS wrote on X.

Gomez-Alberto was living in the Bronx, New York, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office told New Orleans-based NOLA.com.

According to US media reports, 46 passengers and six crew members were aboard the flight.