CNN, MS NOW, NYT turn blind eye on illegal immigrant accused of bomb threat, attempting to storm cockpit
Several legacy news organizations did not cover the arrest of an illegal immigrant accused of making a bomb threat and attempting to storm the cockpit of a United Airlines flight, according to a review of their coverage.
Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, a Honduran national who had previously been deported from the United States twice, was arrested by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office after United Airlines Flight 2174 landed at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport after a frightening midair disturbance Monday night.
Gomez-Alberto allegedly (and falsely) claimed to have a bomb and attempted to enter the cockpit.
CNN and MS NOW both failed to mention the story throughout any of their programs through Wednesday, Grabien transcripts show.
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Neither ABC nor NBC covered the arrest in their national morning and evening newscasts, transcripts also reveal.
Notably, ABC's "World News Tonight" covered a separate United flight from Tokyo that made an emergency landing due to an unruly passenger as well as an emergency landing at O'Hare International Airport after a Frontier jet began flooding with water due to a lavatory plumbing issue.
ABC also ran a report about an 8-year-old Haitian boy who was separated from his family by ICE agents in San Diego.
The New York Times also had not published a story about the incident as of Thursday morning, according to a search of the newspaper's website.
CBS only covered it on its early morning program "CBS News Mornings" without mentioning it on its flagship morning or evening newscasts through Wednesday evening.
Media Research Center President David Bozell told Fox News Digital this is the sort of story that "should send every newsroom in the country digging."
"Who let him back in? How did he get on the plane? What failed? Instead, the elitist media are basically silent," Bozell said. "When the liberal media wears the other team’s jersey for an illegal immigrant would-be terrorist at 30,000 feet, it’s as anti-American as it gets. The American people deserve in-depth reporting on threats to their safety, and they’re getting next to nothing."
DHS confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer for Gomez-Alberto Tuesday after his arrest.
"On November 10, 2026, ICE lodged a detainer for Rony Alexander Gomez-Alberto, a criminal illegal alien from Honduras, with Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office after he attempted to gain entry to the cockpit during a flight," a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
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According to DHS, Gomez-Alberto was apprehended by Border Patrol after illegally entering the United States near El Indio, Texas, in September 2011 and again near Columbus, New Mexico, in October 2014. He was removed from the country following both encounters.
In 2019, Border Patrol arrested him again after an attempted illegal entry near San Ysidro, California.
ICE released Gomez-Alberto from custody in January 2020 after an immigration judge ordered his release pending removal proceedings, according to DHS.
Fox News also confirmed that Gomez-Alberto claimed he feared he would be killed if sent back to his home country alleging on his asylum application that he was transgender, first reported by The Daily Wire.
Local reporting citing the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office said Gomez-Alberto was booked on charges of communicating false information of planned arson and terrorizing. DHS separately listed bomb threat, terroristic threat and disorderly conduct offenses in its statement.
CNN, MS NOW, The New York Times, ABC News, CBS and NBC News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.
