A video reportedly showing armed members of a Venezuelan gang inside an apartment complex in Colorado has sparked anger on social media.
The video shows a group armed with rifles and handguns inside The Edge at Lowry apartments in Aurora, Fox31 reported. The owner of the video told the station that it was captured shortly before a shooting at the apartment complex that left one person seriously injured.
Police in Aurora said on Wednesday that it has been collecting evidence to show that notorious Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua (TdA), is connected to crimes in the city, but said it “could not make any conclusory statements about specific incidents.” The department has been contacted for comment via email.
Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky said the apartment complex has been overrun by a Venezuelan gang.
A stock photo of guns. A video showing armed gang members in an apartment complex in Colorado has sparked anger on social media.
iStock
“The city nonprofits have lined up to help the migrants that have come here but nobody is helping the Americans that are trapped in these apartment complexes,” Jurinsky told Fox31. “This isn’t just Americans. Other Venezuelans are being extorted by this gang.”
Jurinsky has been contacted for further comment via email.
The video prompted anger on social media, including from prominent Republicans, who placed the blame on President Joe Biden‘s administration.
Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, has “managed to import the worst of the Latin American gangs right into Colorado,” Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Kamala Harris has managed to import the worst of the Latin American gangs right into Colorado.
And we’re not even a border state.
This is pure insanity. I was raised in Aurora, this is not something that we ever had before. How are children supposed to grow up with this mess… https://t.co/NIlFIAcrbj
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) August 28, 2024
“And we’re not even a border state. This is pure insanity,” she said. “I was raised in Aurora, this is not something that we ever had before. How are children supposed to grow up with this mess around them?”
Boebert’s office has been contacted for comment via email.
Donald Trump Jr. wrote in response to the video: “Border Czar Kamala Harris is responsible for this.”
Republicans branded Harris Biden’s “border czar” after the president tasked her with working with Central American nations “to accept returnees and enhance migration enforcement at their borders” in 2021. But The Associated Press has reported that she had no special responsibilities at the border and was not involved in negotiations over whether to continue former President Donald Trump‘s pandemic immigration policy known as Title 42.
The National Association of Gun Rights wrote on X that the “exact same politicians who almost passed an “Assault Weapons” ban in our home state are allowing this to happen miles away from their offices. Keep that in mind.”
Others on social media blamed Republicans for tanking bipartisan legislation that was intended to cut back record numbers of illegal border crossings after Trump urged his allies not to support it.
“Thank the GOP Senators and Trump who denied Colorado and the rest of the country a border bill,” one person wrote on X.
In a statement on Wednesday, Aurora Police said the department has been collecting evidence to show that TdA is connected to crimes in the city.
“The city and Aurora Police Department, as previously stated, established a special task force in collaboration with other local, state and federal partners to specifically address concerns about Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and other criminal activity affecting migrant communities,” the statement said.
“We are aware that components of TdA are operating in Aurora. APD has been increasingly collecting evidence to show the gang is connected to crimes in the area,” it said. “However, as we have said previously and as the DEA similarly stated, it would be improper at this time for the city and APD to make any conclusory statements about specific incidents or provide details about law enforcement strategy and operations.”
The department said it believe reports of the gang’s influence in Aurora “are isolated.”
It added: “We urge all community members, including members of our migrant communities, to please report crimes committed against them to their local law enforcement agencies and not remain silent victims.”
Anonymous reports can be made by calling Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).
