Former President Trump campaigned Saturday in the Wisconsin town of Prairie du Chien, making immigration crimes a central part of his speech after a rape suspect was arrested in the small rural community.
The rally, which was supposed to take place outdoors but was moved indoors due to a shortage of Secret Service personnel, focused on immigration crimes. During the speech, Trump referenced the arrest of assault suspect Alejandro José Coronel Zárate, 26, who is an alleged member of Venezuela’s violent Tren de Aragua migrant gang.
Earlier this month, Zarate was charged with sexual assault, battery, strangulation and suffocation, as well as false imprisonment, child abuse and disorderly conduct, according to WXOW.
The suspect, accused of sexually assaulting a mother and abusing her daughter “in particularly brutal circumstances”, was arrested in Prairie du Chien on September 6.
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“Just this month, right here in this beautiful city, police arrested an illegal alien member of a savage Venezuelan prison gang known as Tren de Agua,” Trump described. “These are really bad. This vile monster was accused of holding a mother and daughter captive against their will and sexually assaulting them over and over and over again.”
The Republican presidential candidate also took aim at his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been criticized for her border policies.
“This animal crossed Kamala’s open border, along with hundreds of thousands of others who are worse than him, who are worse than him,” Trump continued. “He was arrested and released in the sanctuary city of Minneapolis.”
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“And by the way, I’m going to wipe out all the sanctuary cities immediately after I take power,” he added.
Last week, Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital that the Prairie du Chien community was shocked by the arrest. Van Orden’s grandchildren live less than a mile from the home where the mother and daughter were abused.
“Why should a city of 5,500 people… be afraid to let their children play in the front yard?” said the politician. “Three years ago it wasn’t like that.”
Van Orden noted that Wisconsin’s agricultural industries rely on migrant labor, but emphasized the need to enact immigration reform for the sake of public safety.
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“I’ve been to the border three times… They let a guy with gang tattoos into the country, and they give you a medical exam before you cross the border. They give them a medical exam, because they don’t want people. “I come with tuberculosis “said the Republican congressman in disbelief.
Fox News Digital’s Christina Coulter contributed to this report.