Donald Trump has made further allegations against migrants in Springfield, Ohio, and in Aurora, Colorado, where he said they have “massive machine gun-type equipment.”
“Kamala should have closed the border years ago and we wouldn’t have hostile takeovers of Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado, where they’re actually going in with massive machine gun-type equipment that are beyond even military scope,” The Republican presidential candidate said, during his Wednesday speech in Mint Hill, North Carolina.
He identified some migrants as: “People from Venezuela. Young street gang members that were sent here by the Venezuelan government.”
The allegations are based on a widely-circulated video which showed alleged Venezuelan gang members armed with rifles and handguns in an apartment building.
Donald Trump speaking at a campaign event in Mint Hill, North Carolina, September 25, 2024. During his speech, he made further allegations against migrants in Aurora, Colorado, where he said they have firearms “beyond even military scope.”
Nell Redmond/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Newsweek emailed Trump’s campaign to ask whether he believes that such weapons “beyond even military scope” should be restricted, but did not receive a response by time of publication. Trump has shown adamant support for the Second Amendment.
Aurora Police Department said earlier in September that it had identified 10 members of the Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua (TdA) in the city of more than 400,000 people. Eight alleged members have been arrested. One of the suspected gang members has been in Immirgation and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody since July 28.
In relation to a hostile takeover, the former President has repeatedly made allegations that Venezuelan criminals had taken control of two apartment buildings in Aurora, but the mayor of the town, Michael Coffman, said the gangs were not in control of either complex.
Coffman, who formerly served as a representative in the U.S. Congress for ten years, initially believed that TdA was in control and taking rent from residents. But what actually happened was that the property managers had vanished, and tenants simply were not paying anybody, Coffman explained.
The two complexes on Dallas Street and Helena Street are both facing maintenance issues and a lack of management, but the mayor said this has been the case for some time.
As for Springfield, Ohio, a group representing Haitian immigrants in the town has now filed criminal charges against Trump and JD Vance for repeatedly pushing false claims about them, including that they entered the country illegally, and that the have been eating their neighbors’ cats and dogs.
The Haitian immigrants did not undertake a “hostile takeover” of Springfield, as Trump alleged yesterday, but rather entered the U.S. legally under the Biden administration’s Humanitarian Parole and Temporary Protected Status programs.
The programs allow migrants from Haiti, as well as Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, to enter the U.S. legally if they have a sponsor and meet strict vetting criteria. Those who are eligible can wait within the U.S. while their longer-term immigration status is decided on.
Jamie McGregor, the chief executive of the family-owned business McGregor Metal, said his company did not have enough workers to meet the production demands that came after an investment boost.
“The Haitians were there to fill those positions,” McGregor told The New York Times. “They come to work every day. They don’t cause drama. They’re on time.”
Between 15,000 and 20,000 Haitian migrants have moved to the city, which had a population of just under 60,000 in 2020, over the space of four years, city officials say.
