Has a Venezuelan gang member been arrested in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin?

Republicans in Wisconsin have often repeated the phrase "every state is a border state." For evidence, they’ve recently turned to Prairie du Chien, a city of about 5,500 people across the Mississippi River from Iowa.

U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden and U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde — both Republicans running for Congress in Wisconsin — have appeared on Fox News in recent weeks to argue immigration is a Wisconsin issue. 

They both cited a case in which Prairie du Chien police said a man affiliated with a transnational gang attacked a woman and her daughter. 

"We just had a Venezuelan illegal immigrant violently attack and rape a woman in a small town in Wisconsin, and attack her daughter," Hovde said in an Sept. 12 Fox News interview.

Van Orden, who lives in Prairie du Chien, also discussed the case on Fox News three days later.

"(He) made his way to Minneapolis where he was arrested for property crime, then made his way down to Madison, Wisconsin, where he was arrested for a series of violent crimes," Van orden said. "He was released from both of these places because they’re sanctuary cities."    

Former President Donald Trump also mentioned the Prairie du Chien case at his rally in Mosinee, claiming the suspect was charged with "suffocation, child abuse, sexual assault and many other things."

Trump and his running mate, U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, have spread false claims about migrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. Schools and hospitals in the city were evacuated or locked down due to threats. 

PolitiFact Wisconsin wanted to look into the Prairie du Chien case partly because the Springfield claims attracted so much attention and were determined false. 

Rather than fact-checking just one politician or one statement, we decided to lay out what’s accurate, based on what we know so far, and what’s not.

In a Facebook post Sept. 6 and in an update Sept. 9, the Prairie du Chien Police Department laid out details of what they call an "open and ongoing investigation." 

Police say they responded to a physical disturbanc Sept. 5, where they learned a "male suspect had been physically and sexually violent towards an adult female." 

A female juvenile was also "found to have been injured during the physical altercation that took place," police said. No details about the victims, including their ages, have been released. 

Prairie du Chien police said the suspect is Alejandro Jose Coronel Zarate, who is not a U.S. citizen. 

In the initial post, police said Coronel Zarate was "suspected of having an affiliation with a known violent transnational criminal organization known as ‘Tren de Aragua.’"

In the update, police said "we are more confident now" about his affiliation with the gang, based on interviews, the suspect’s "prominently displayed tattoos" and after consulting with federal law enforcement. 

Police said the incident was "not a random event," as one of the victims brought the suspect to Prairie du Chien from Madison, Wisconsin, and "were acquaintances." 

The department’s statement, signed by police Chief Kyle Teynor, said the victim had "no expectations or knowledge of his violent tendencies" and "holds no responsibility for the brutal assaults." 

In the update, Teynor said "Coronel Zarate is the only suspect in this case and the only person we have had contact with that has shown connections to the Tren de Aragua transnational gang." 

Coronel Zarate has been charged with three felonies: second degree sexual assault, child abuse, and strangulation and suffocation, plus three misdemeanor counts of battery and disorderly conduct with domestic abuse modifiers. 

He was booked into Crawford County Jail, Teynor said, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was contacted and a detainer was placed on him. 

Police also said Coronel Zarate was charged and had warrants in Dane County, where Madison is located, and was arrested in Minnesota in 2023. 

A search of the Wisconsin’s courts website shows he was charged with strangulation and suffocation, false imprisonment, battery and disorderly conduct. A warrant for his arrest was issued Dec. 1, 2023. 

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office told PolitiFact Wisconsin that Coronel Zarate was never in their custody, and the Madison Police Department similarly said he was never in jail in Dane County for that case. 

That contradicts part of Van Orden’s claim that he was "arrested" and then "released" in Madison, because he was never in custody there. 

Also, Madison does not have an official "sanctuary city" policy, said Dylan Brogan, the city’s public information officer.

He pointed to the Madison Police Department’s standard operating procedure on immigration laws, which explains how the department cooperates with Immigration and Custons Enforcement under certain circumstances, such as if a suspect is arrested for a violent felony.

In the past, PolitiFact Wisconsin explained that Madison and Milwaukee County do not consider themselves sanctuary cities, which is a political term rather than a legal one. But they do have practices that fit the meaning.

On the county side, Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett pushed back on a letter from Van Orden and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., published on the conservative news website Wisconsin Right Now. 

In the letter, the congressmen asked Barrett whether the county has a policy that restricts coordination with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and whether Coronel Zarate was ever in custody. 

Barrett responded on his campaign Facebook page, rather than an official page. He confirmed Coronel Zarate was never in his custody and said claims the department is "noncooperative" with Immigration and Customs Enforcement are false. 

Barrett also painted the letter as "an unsubstantiated and distasteful attempt to gather votes in a battleground state for the upcoming presidential election."

"And to save any follow up inquiries, we have not taken reports of people eating cats or dogs," Barrett added, referring to the false claims in Springfield, Ohio. 

A spokesperson for Van Orden sent PolitiFact Wisconsin his own response: "Barrett is trying to distract from the fact that he issued warrants … and never executed them." 

In July, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Tren de Aragua as a significant Transnational Criminal Organization, "(underscoring) the escalating threat it poses to American communities." 

The Treasury Department said Tren de Aragua, which originated as a prison gang in Venezuela, is known for crimes including human smuggling, gender-based violence and drug trafficking. 

A statement from a National Security Council spokesperson also said the Department of Homeland Security has "implemented enhanced vetting processes" before people arrive at the border and "enhanced screening measures" at the border to "identify known or suspected gang members."

Those identified as gang members are detained and referred for criminal prosecution or held pending removal. 

Law enforcement agents are also working with local and state partners, the National Security Council said, to "investigate and prosecute Tren de Aragua members and affiliates engaged in criminal activities."

Prairie du Chien police said that based on their investigation, they can confirm Coronel Zarate entered the U.S. in September 2023 "at or near the El Paso, Texas port of entry."

When he was arrested, Coronel Zarate had two fictitious immigration documents, including a U.S. Social Security card, police said.

Prairie du Chien isn’t the first small community in Wisconsin that Republicans have pointed to when making arguments about immigration. 

In the past, they’ve turned to Whitewater, a city of about 15,700 that for the last two years has attracted some 1,000 migrants, mainly from Nicaragua, for jobs on farms and in factories. 

Residents told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel earlier this year that they were disappointed by "fear mongering" from politicians and noticed no uptick in crime. 

City leaders said there have been obstacles, such as drivers being pulled over without licenses and unsafe living conditions, but said they want to solve those problems if given more funding.

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the executive director of immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, pointed to claims from Republicans about migrants in Whitewater.

Advocates were concerned law enforcement in Whitewater coordinated too closely with Republican members of Congress, like holding public events together. 

"This is all just fear-mongering and xenophobia, and the community has just responded beautifully," Neumann-Ortiz said. 

PolitiFact Wisconsin has also previously debunked claims from a county Republican party that "planes full of unvetted ‘refugees’" are being accepted at airports in Milwaukee and Madison. 

Unlike debunked claims about migrants eating pets in Springfield, a new claim making the rounds about a Venezuelan gang member assaulting a mother and daughter in Wisconsin has elements that are accurate. 

Prairie du Chien police say they are confident the suspect is affiliated with Tren de Aragua, adding they’ve consulted with federal partners and contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

But the details of these cases are important. There’s no evidence that the suspect was ever in custody in Dane County, nor that he was "released" back into the community — key things Republicans have claimed. 

Also, police said this was not a random attack and they have not had contact with other members of the gang.