A Washington man has been sentenced for violently assaulting and stabbing a Black female passenger because of her race.

Adan Hernandez-Mayoral was sentenced to 54 months in prison and three years of supervised release for an attack in which he used a knife to cause bodily injury to the victim because of her race and colour.

According to court documents, Mr Hernandez-Mayoral boarded a King County Metro bus on March 7, 2024, and immediately began making racially charged comments about Black people.

Mr Hernandez-Mayoral started antagonising the victim, a Black woman, and yelled, “I don’t like Black people, f***in’ hate ’em.”

The defendant referred to the woman as “Rosa Parks” and told her to move to the back of the bus. When the woman attempted to move away from him, Mr Hernandez-Mayoral followed her, while hiding a knife behind his back.

When the bus doors opened at a stop, Mr Hernandez-Mayoral grabbed the woman, pushing her off the bus and into a fence. He immediately began beating her all over her body.

He stomped on her after she fell to the ground. He then used the knife to repeatedly and violently stab the woman. The victim was wearing a thick coat, sparing her from more serious injuries.

Mr Hernandez-Mayoral fled the scene but was located and arrested by officers from the Kent Police Department later that evening.

On December 23, 2025, Mr Hernandez-Mayoral pleaded guilty to a hate crime causing bodily injury.

“Today, we have delivered justice with the sentencing of Adan Hernandez-Mayoral for his brutal, racially motivated attack on the victim,” said assistant attorney general Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “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.”