A squatter ‘invasion’ TikToker gives tips
A migrant TikToker with a 500,000-strong online following is offering his comrades tips on how to “invade” unoccupied homes and invoke squatter’s rights in the United States.
Venezuelan national Leonel Moreno (right), who appears to live in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, said in a recent video that under US law, “if a house is not inhabited, we can seize it.”
He appeared to be referring to “adverse possession” laws, commonly known as squatter’s rights, which allow unlawful property occupants rights over the property they occupy without the owner’s consent, in certain circumstances.
Moreno claimed in the viral TikTok clip, which has drawn more than 3.9 million views, that he has “African friends” who have “already taken about seven homes.”
The firebrand influencer, who lives with his partner and their baby daughter, argued that the only way for his fellow migrants to escape living on the streets and not become a “public burden” is to “invade” unoccupied homes.
Many TikTok commenters were outraged by Moreno’s message encouraging squatting, which has emerged as a major problem in recent years across the country, and especially in Democrat-led cities, including New York City, Atlanta and Los Angeles.
“Pretty sure this is illegal and I feel like he’s encouraging others to engage in illegal activities,”
We can invade a house in the USA, what do you think about this new law?
one angry critic wrote.
Another tagged the FBI, calling on the federal agency to “please investigate that Venezuelan.”
Laws regarding squatters exist in all 50 states, offering trespassers a wide range of protections if they establish legal occupancy of a home.
In New York City, people who are able to remain on a property for just 30 days can claim squatter’s rights.
“Migrant Influencer” Moreno has previously shared videos bragging about earning money by begging on the streets while collecting government handouts.
He also made headlines last month by urging his compatriots to throw their support behind 15year-old Jesus Alejandro Rivas-Figueroa, who was charged as an adult with attempted murder for allegedly shooting a tourist in Times Square and firing on cops.
“I invite you to look for [his] mother and all of us join to pay the bail, so that this young Venezuelan feels that you’re not alone in difficult times, but remembers that there is a God up there who sees. Today it could be him, tomorrow it could be you . . . . He did something wrong, it’s OK,” Moreno said in a viral Feb. 12 TikTok post.