Chicago police respond to call claiming armed Venezuelan migrants trespassing at apartment complex

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, September 05, 2024

Chicago police received a call that over 30 Venezuelan migrants had shown up at a South Side apartment with guns, though one resident denied the report. 

The Chicago Police Department responded to the report on Monday night, according to The National Desk. A caller had told dispatch that 32 migrants were trespassing and that the group was displaying guns in the courtyard of the building located in the Washington Park neighborhood. The caller also alleged that the migrants had parked motorcycles outside the building as the staircases became filled. 

In response to an inquiry from The Christian Post, a spokesperson for CPD said an officer responded to a “call of service.” The term refers to an incident requiring assistance from emergency service personnel, but these types of calls are usually related to minor incidents.

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The spokesperson provided CP with a document containing police directives and confirmed that the call received a miscellaneous incident code of 4P. The code refers to “Disturbance, Noise—Other Police Service.” According to the CPD spokesperson, the officer did not generate any additional report besides this one. 

One resident of the building, Anderson Gutierrez, told The Chicago Tribune that 32 armed people were not at the complex on Monday night, calling the report a “lie.” Gutierrez is a 20-year-old from Venezuela who moved into the building a few weeks ago with his siblings. 

“Look, there’s no one outside,” he said. “We all know each other. No one is hurting anyone.” 

The 911 call in Chicago about Venezuelan migrants follows a viral video last week that showed armed men carrying guns and entering an apartment in Aurora, Colorado. Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman blamed the Biden-Harris administration and nonprofit organizations for deciding to house large numbers of Venezuelan migrants in low-income apartments in the city. 

The mayor stated that the criminal activities associated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua is mostly isolated to certain apartment complexes and that the issue doesn't jeopardize the safety of the city’s over 400,000 residents. 

"The city of Aurora took a position early on that we were not going to participate in the migrant crisis. We were not going to provide taxpayer support, and we were not even going to be a conduit for federal dollars to come in to provide assistance," Coffman said in an interview with Fox31 Denver.

"This is not our problem; this is a problem created by the federal government at the border with bad policy,” the mayor said. “So, the federal government needs to solve this problem, not the city of Aurora. These people did not go there on their own; somebody put them there." 

Coffman described Venezuela as a “failed state under a socialist dictator,” noting that many are leaving the country. The mayor explained that the Venezuelan community entering the city now vastly differs from the immigrants who came to Aurora in the past.

"Unlike immigration we've had in the past, in our Venezuelan community that has been here, where they had sponsors, where they had family members, they had resources, and they were educated, the city is now getting people who "poured over the border,” he said.   

"Typically, you walk across illegally, you get arrested, you declare political asylum, you're given humanitarian parole until your case can be adjudicated, which can take months, years," Coffman explained. "It's a broader problem than the gangs that you have people who are here without resources that can't apply for a work permit until they are here for six months."    

The Aurora mayor added that he hopes the authorities can remove gang members who have reportedly taken over three apartment complexes without having to ask residents to leave.

Aurora Police Department Interim Chief Heather Morris stated in a video update that officers were speaking with residents at one apartment complex and claimed that "gang members have not taken over" based on what residents have told them.

Morris did acknowledge, however, that there is some gang activity in the complex, adding that officers on hand will “investigate” and “address” criminal activity at the building.