Squatter influencer Claims He Is Victim Of Unjust Persecution

A little over a week since his arrest, the Venezuelan illegal immigrant who taught fellow illegal immigrants how to take advantage of American “squatter’s rights” to take over people’s homes is claiming he is being unjustly persecuted.

In a recent interview with the New York Post which was conducted from an Ohio jail, Leonel Moreno said that he is being misrepresented in the news and even suggested that his life is at risk.

Venezuelan 'migrant influencer' complains that he's a victim of 'persecution' during interview from jail https://t.co/hVBQAdskbH pic.twitter.com/FZxMdL1UC2

— TheBlaze (@theblaze) April 7, 2024

“I came here to the United States because of persecution in my country … But they’re doing the same thing to me in the United States – persecuting me,” he said, adding, “It’s all misinformation in the media about me. They’re defaming me. They’re misrepresenting me in the news … I am a good father, a good husband, a good son, a good person, humble, respectful to people who respect me.”

Crying that he misses his “entire life” and his “freedom,” Moreno said further that “they’re going to kill me.”

“They’re coming for my life – anyone!” he added in the interview which he tried to get money out of, according to the Post..

Moreno did not specify who the “they” he referred to are.

Moreno made headlines with a video he shared with his over 500,000 followers on TikTok, advising other illegal immigrants to seize houses that seem to be uninhabited.

“My people!… I found out that there is a law that says that if a house is not occupied we can seize it,” he said in the video in Spanish.

“Guys, here in the United States, the squatter’s law is also in effect. And I think that this will be my next business, squatting in abandoned houses. I already got some cheat codes from my African friends. And they told me that they have already seized about 7 houses,” he added.

Other videos Moreno posted on his social media accounts champion a lifestyle of grifting over hard work, as he promotes begging on the streets or relying on handouts from the government.

In one video viewed on Instagram by the Post, he waved a stack of $100 bills, saying, “I didn’t cross the Rio Grande to work like a slave.”

According to the Daily Mail, ICE officials said that the illegal alien has been on the run since 2022 when he crossed the border at Eagle Pass, Texas, and ICE had lost track of him. It would turn out that the video he made recommending living off the state to his fellow migrants played a crucial role in leading authorities to him.

Moreno could also face federal charges for unlawful possession of firearms due to multiple videos of him handling weapons in a gun store.

He, however, argued that he did not do anything wrong, as social media is his “job” and he was only playing a “character” in his videos.

“If Leonel Moreno commits a crime or something then they would be right, but it’s because of my work, so this is unfair … Social media is my job, he said, adding, “If I want to say something now, I can’t say it … We’ve become an oppressive country instead of a free country where we can express whatever is in our hearts … The United States was created to be that, not to oppress.”

“The person who is in my videos, my character, is not the same person as Leonel Moreno. I am a different person. We can’t confuse one with the other. We can’t confuse my character with my real life…I have a sarcastic, dark humor. That’s my job … Leonel Moreno is the opposite,” he added.