An op-ed in a Colorado newspaper hit back at what it called “Venezuelan gang hysteria perpetrated by dodgy politicians.”
Former President Donald Trump and local politicians, including Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, recently said that apartment buildings in Aurora had been taken over by migrants. Last Thursday, a video reportedly showing armed members of a Venezuelan gang inside an apartment complex circulated on social media.
The clip showed shows a group armed with rifles and handguns inside The Edge at Lowry apartments in Aurora, Fox31 in Denver reported. It was captured shortly before a shooting at the complex that left one person seriously injured, the owner of the video said.
Multiple politicians have since called out “Venezuelan gang activity,” which the newspaper The Sentinel called a “grisly attempt at terrorizing Aurora residents, in hopes of swaying voters to back anti-immigrant candidates and causes.”
Dave Perry, senior editor at the liberal-leaning outlet, wrote: “Enough. Aurora residents have had enough of their community and some of the most vulnerable people among us being made dangerously into pawns for a despicable right-wing political farce.”
He went on to call out “some city and regional Republican lawmakers” by name, including Aurora Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky and Coffman. Perry said they “owe Aurora, the state and the nation an apology for purposely generating terror in a foul and blatant grab for political gain.”
Jurinsky told Fox 31: “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. This isn’t just Americans. Other Venezuelans are being extorted by this gang.”
Meanwhile, Coffman wrote in a post on Facebook that the city was waiting for a municipal judge to issue a court order, which would return control to property owners.
“The problems associated with Venezuelan gang activity has been isolated to properties that are all under the same out-of-state ownership whose problems with code violations and criminal activity preceded the migrant crisis,” Coffman said.
“I strongly believe that the best course of action is to shut these buildings down and make sure that this never happens again.”
Last Friday, Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, said during a rally in Pennsylvania: “These stupid people that we have leading our country are allowing these people, these criminals to come into our country, and we’ve got to get them the hell out of here.”
Perry said of these types of comments: “They point to national immigration policy problems as the reason why this city council, and just about every city council before them, has been unable to control shootings and address poverty not just in these neighborhoods, but across the city.
“Don’t buy it, Aurora. It’s a demented and dangerous deception that is only meant to invoke fear and turn voters toward a failed political clan of liars, cheaters and election deniers practically driven from the entire state.”
When asked for a response to the op-ed, Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump, told Newsweek: “President Trump speaks truth to power and he will always shine a spotlight on crime that has been allowed to pour into our communities due to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden‘s anti-America policies.”
Newsweek has also contacted Jurinsky, via email, and Coffman, via the City of Aurora’s email, for comment.
Stock image of guns. A video showing armed men walking around an apartment building in Colorado has been circulating on social media.
Getty
Although law enforcement has not verified the claims that the apartment in the viral video has been taken over by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, police said they had set up a special task force to address concerns about the gang members and other criminal activity linked to migrants in the area.
“We are aware that components of TdA (Tren de Aragua) are operating in Aurora. APD has been increasingly collecting evidence to show the gang is connected to crimes in the area, the department said.
The TdA began as a prison gang in Aragua, Venezuela, before expanding rapidly in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of State, focusing on human trafficking and other abuses.
Aurora PD said it believed the influence of TdA was isolated to the buildings in question, adding that it was working with federal and state partners, including the DEA.
