Venezuelan migrant attack leaves families in swing state fearful: lawmaker

Coronel Zarate was charged Wednesday with assault, battery, strangulation, suffocation, false imprisonment, child abuse and disorderly conduct in Crawford County Court, WXOW reported. He remains in the Crawford County Jail on a $10,000 bond.

VENEZUELAN GANG TREN DE ARAGUA TAKES OVER TEXAS HOTEL, COUNTY OFFICIALS WORKING TO SHUT DOWN BUSINESS

Venezuelan migrant Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate was charged earlier this month by Prairie du Chien police with assault, battery, strangulation, suffocation, unlawful imprisonment, child abuse and disorderly conduct. (Crawford County Jail)

The mother later told police that Coronel Zarate also assaulted her on Sept. 4, according to a criminal complaint. During that incident, she told police, Coronel Zarate allegedly told her, “I’ll get away with it. I’m a criminal.”

Members are accused of a series of high-profile crimes in the US, including the murder of Laken Riley, a nursing student in Georgia, and the shooting of two New York Police Department officers during an arrest in June.

“I don’t care what your political affiliation is. This is not a Democratic issue. This is not an independent or a Libertarian issue. This is a human rights issue,” Van Orden said at the Sept. 9 press conference. “American citizens are being violated. They are being kidnapped, raped, and murdered by criminal illegal aliens, and it has got to stop.”

Van Orden told Fox News Digital that he still stands by his earlier comments, despite the backlash he has received since then.

The town of Prairie du Chien, pictured, has about 5,500 inhabitants. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

“They are calling us racists because we are bringing out the fact that a man with organized crime tattoos was allowed into the country by Harris’ border czar – he happens to be Venezuelan,” Van Orden said.

“If we don’t have immigrant workers, our dairies, our farms will go bankrupt. Our dairies will close if we don’t have immigrant workers. I absolutely 100 percent welcome immigrant workers if they want to come here and work and send money back,” he said. “But letting someone into the country with tattoos that are associated with known immigrant gangs is not okay. We don’t welcome criminal illegal immigrants to come here.”

Prairie du Chien police confirmed that Zarate entered the country through or near the El Paso, Texas, border crossing in September 2023.

TEXAS GOVERNOR ABBOTT DESIGNATES VENEZUELAN GANG, TREN DE ARAGUA, AS A FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION

Congressman Derrick Van Orden told Fox News Digital that the community of 5,500 people in his hometown was shocked by the brutal crime. (Provided by the office of Congressman Derrick Van Orden)

“I’ve been to the border three times. They let a guy with gang tattoos into the country and you get a medical screening before you cross the border. They give them a medical exam because they don’t want people with tuberculosis coming here,” Van Orden said in disbelief.

The former Navy SEAL said the attack shocked his small community, but he said it was only a matter of time before migrant crime struck there.

“Why should a town of 5,500 people… be afraid to let their kids play in their front yard?” Van Orden said. “Three years ago, that wasn’t the case.”

The gang member’s arrest in Prairie du Chien was not his first run-in with police. In November 2023, he was arrested for allegedly receiving stolen goods, but was later released.

“Zarate was arrested for property crimes in Minneapolis and Minnesota, which are being directed by (Gov.) Tim Walz,” Van Orden said. “They let him go because of the sanctuary city policy.”

SUSPECTED TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBERS IN AURORA, COLORADO, RELEASED ON $1,000 BOND

This footage from a Customs and Border Protection intelligence bulletin shows Tren De Aragua’s tattoos and identification information.

On December 1, a warrant was issued for his arrest in Dane County, Wisconsin, for strangulation/suffocation, false imprisonment, assault and disorderly conduct. In addition to federal policy, Van Orden blamed Dane County Democrat Kalvin Barrett for the incident earlier this month.

“Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett personally bears a tremendous amount of responsibility, and that’s just a fact,” Van Orden told Fox News Digital. “What (he) can’t deny is that they have a warrant out for Mr. Zarate’s arrest for strangulation, false imprisonment, assault and disorderly conduct. That warrant came out of his office — if he had spent more time fighting crime instead of complaining about a Republican on his Facebook page, he would have been in custody and a mother and daughter would not have been sexually abused for multiple days.”

Van Orden and Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany wrote a letter to Barrett earlier this month demanding answers regarding the arrest warrant for Coronel Zarate.

“Given that Dane County was classified as ‘non-cooperative’ with federal immigration authorities by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as recently as June of this year, Representatives Tiffany and Van Orden wrote to request additional information regarding Dane County law enforcement’s interactions with Mr. Coronel Zarate,” a press release from the two congressmen said.

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Barrett told Fox News Digital that the Republicans’ allegations were merely “a baseless and tasteless attempt to rally votes in a state where the upcoming presidential election is still being fought,” and that the claim that Republicans were unwilling to cooperate was false.

“As sheriff, I will not tolerate another disrespectful attack on our law enforcement profession by actors seeking to politically sway voters. This investigation is an insult to the brave men and women of our Sheriff’s Office who courageously put their lives on the line in service of their communities,” Barrett wrote in an email.

“To the authors of this investigation, please redirect your political theatrics as you attempt to recover from VP Kamala Harris’s thorough, factual, and strategic dismantling of your presidential candidate,” Barrett said. “To avoid further investigation, we have not received any reports of people eating cats or dogs.”