Shocking video shows gang of Venezuelan migrants attacking Chicago train passenger

By Bethan Sexton for Dailymail.com

20:53 03 Jul 2024, updated 21:35 03 Jul 2024

A Chicago passenger was brutally attacked by robbers who strangled him unconscious and rifled through his pockets.

The 49-year-old victim’s ordeal on February 17 was captured on harrowing surveillance video obtained by Fox News.

Fernando Loyo-Rodriguez, Wilker Gutierrez Sierra, Carlos Carreno-Carreno and Yonnier Guasamucare Garcia, all Venezuelan migrants, were charged with attempted murder and robbery.

The footage shows four men appearing to befriend their victim in the carriage before he is suddenly grabbed from behind.

The man is suffocated and loses consciousness. As he falls to the ground, one of the suspects covers the camera.

As he steps back, one of the group members is seen rummaging through his pockets.

Police said one of the suspects held a knife to the victim’s throat during the attack.

The group fled with $400 and a cell phone and left their victim unconscious in the back of the wagon.

The suspects, aged 18 to 22, were arrested 45 minutes later.

They had only been in the country for a few months before the incident, with three of the accused having already been arrested for shoplifting.

The men appeared in Cook County Court on Tuesday for a pretrial detention hearing.

Carreno-Carreno, Loyo-Rodriguez and Guasamucare Garcia were taken into custody, while Gutierrez Sierra was released under electronic monitoring. They are scheduled to appear in court again on August 28.

The crime has reignited debates about immigration in the United States, as it follows a series of other high-profile crimes allegedly committed by migrants.

Among them is the horrific rape and murder of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston, Texas, last month.

Venezuelans Johan José Rangel Martinez and Franklin José Pena Ramos have been charged in connection with these crimes.

Before that, the death of nursing student Laken Riley, allegedly at the hands of migrant José Ibarra, prompted Riley’s father to describe her killing as a “rallying call” for secure borders.

Similarly, the grieving family of Rachel Morin, a mother of five, blamed Biden’s border policy for her death.

Morin’s naked body was found on a hiking trail in Maryland nearly a year ago.

Prosecutors say illegal migrant Victor Martinez Hernandez, 23, waited for her in hiding before carrying out the heinous attack.

The issue has become a flashpoint in the run-up to the November election and a cornerstone of Donald Trump’s campaign.

The presidential candidate has pledged to deport millions of migrants who entered the United States illegally if elected.

However, several studies have shown that migrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans.

A study by Stanford economist Ran Abramitzky found that immigrants are 30 percent less likely to be incarcerated than white people born in the United States.