A man arrested after an alleged bomb threat aboard a United Airlines flight was granted asylum in 2020 after claiming persecution for being transgender, The Daily Wire reported, citing an unnamed law-enforcement source.
Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto is accused of threatening Flight 2174 from Newark to New Orleans on November 9. The flight landed safely, and authorities booked him on charges of communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing, according to local reporting. Homeland Security says he attempted to enter the cockpit.
ICE has lodged a detainer requesting his transfer to federal custody upon release. The immigration court agency had not responded to Daily Wire’s request for comment, and the outlet did not publish the asylum decision.