Colorado gov. claims Aurora’s migrant gang takeover is just ‘imagination’ despite video, local leaders’ outcry and residents fleeing their homes
Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, has denied that migrant gangs have taken over apartment buildings in Aurora — despite video evidence and outrage from a local leader.
The heavily armed mob was seen on video storming through an apartment complex while brandishing at least one semi-automatic weapon. A man in a hoodie is seen dragging the high-powered rifle and pounding on an apartment door, while several others wield handguns.
“A GANG HAS TAKEN OVER SEVERAL APARTMENT COMPLEXES IN AURURI!” wrote local councillor Danielle Jurinsky on X.
But Polis said the migrant takeover is just a figment of her “imagination.”
“The governor has already informed the mayor that the state is prepared to support local law enforcement with assistance from state troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation,” said Shelby Wieman, a spokeswoman for the governor. told the New York Post.
Colorado Democrat Gov. Jared Polis Denies Migrants Took Over Apartment Buildings — Despite Video Evidence
“But according to police intelligence, this alleged invasion was largely a product of Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination.”
The spokesperson went on to say that “it is illegal to take over buildings in Colorado” and if Jurinsky “is aware of any such activity,” the governor’s office “stands ready to assist law enforcement in taking back the buildings.”
When the Post again asked if Polis would retract his statement given the video evidence of the takeover, Wieman said the governor “really hopes the city council members in charge will stop destroying their own city when they should be keeping it safe.”
“Over the past month, Governor Polis has been in regular contact with the City of Aurora and the Aurora Police Department and has offered all state resources to support their efforts if requested,” she said, adding that the governor’s office expects violent crime in the city to continue to decline, as it did in 2022 and 2023.
Shocking footage shows an armed Venezuelan gang taking control of an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado
Gang members run up the stairs, weapons in hand. In the background, the men can be heard talking to each other in Spanish.
But residents and city officials say they have been suffering since the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua arrived in the city, now believed to be behind apartment takeovers.
In July, the migrant gang was also blamed for a shooting in a Target parking lot.
“These Venezuelans are taking over,” a man says in a video posted to TikTok by user 100packsavvy.
Footage from July 29 shows chaos in a Target parking lot in Aurora, where Venezuelans gathered for a weekend protest against their home country’s elections.
Although it was generally peaceful, migrants swarmed into the mall, taking it over, with cars packed like sardines, bumper to bumper.
This forced Target and other area retailers to close early, out of fear that their customers would get caught up in the protests, Telemundo Denver reported.
As night fell, the trashed parking lot filled with trash went from disgusting to dangerous.
In July, the migrant gang was also blamed for a shooting in a Target parking lot
Police responded to several incidents, including gunfire, the Spanish-language outlet reported.
The TikTok users who made the video claimed that he and his companions were almost run over.
“We almost got hit,” one man says.
The Aurora couple who filmed the apartment takeover on Wednesday, Cindy and Edward Romero, also said Fox 31 that the shooting took place just before a shooting at the complex, which left one person seriously injured and several vehicles damaged.
“It’s a nightmare and I can’t wait to get out of here,” Cindy Romero said as she packed her things to flee the crime-ridden city.
Before the shooting, the couple had installed a complicated system of locks that ran from top to bottom through the door.
“Every day when we come home, we have to do this when we go outside to take out the trash,” Cindy said as she demonstrated how the locks worked.
“Every time we go to bed at night. We have to keep it that way so no one can kick the door in,” she added.
Venezuela’s most violent gang, Tren de Aragua, has moved its headquarters just across the US border in the Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez
Tattoos from the Tren de Aragua gang (pictured above) were part of a Department of Homeland Security bulletin recently shared with federal agents
Police have refused to confirm whether the shooters in the apartment complex video belong to the notorious Tren de Aragua cartel, but councillor Jurinksy said Fox 31 that the building had been attacked by a Venezuelan gang.
“These are not just Americans. Other Venezuelans are being extorted by this gang,” Jurinsky said.
Aurora police released a statement Wednesday confirming they are investigating the chilling footage of the apartment takeover.
Authorities noted that they had created a special task force “in collaboration with other local, state and federal partners to specifically address concerns about the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and other criminal activities.”
Police confirmed that they were “aware that elements of the TdA are active in Aurora.”
They added that they are “gathering more and more evidence that shows the gang is involved in crimes in the area.”
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman said there are “several buildings” in the city that “have fallen into the hands of these Venezuelan gangs.”
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman also told FOX News On Thursday, “several buildings” collapsed in the city that “fell into the hands of these Venezuelan gangs.”
He said he believed the buildings were being used as housing for migrants, funded by taxpayers’ money, and that this gave the gangs an opportunity.
“This is an organized criminal enterprise,” the Republican mayor said. “Whether it’s a trend, a drug war, that remains to be seen.”
“They essentially bullied the property management out of the company and then collected the rent.”
Coffman claimed the city is a “victim” of federal policy and Denver’s “asylum city” policy.
“I think we are the victim of failed policies on the southern border,” he said, arguing: “Venezuela is not cooperating with the United States when it comes to criminal records.
“There have been huge waves of migrants coming across the border. Many of them have crossed the border illegally. We have been arrested, we have applied for political asylum, we have not been properly screened and we have been released back into the country, in the city of Aurora.
“We’ve done everything we can to keep them out of the city, quite frankly, because it’s not our problem. This is a federal problem.”
Under the Biden administration — which appointed Vice President Kamala Harris as “border czar” — illegal immigration into the U.S. has surged to 8 million border crossings, and is expected to reach 10 million by the end of September.
The migrant crisis has now moved into the city, with more than 40,000 people reportedly arriving in the Denver area since December 2022.
The problem in Colorado has been exacerbated by Polis’ policies, which make it easier for immigrants to get driver’s licenses, go to school and access taxpayer-funded resources.
“There are people behind this who are just playing politics,” Jurinsky said Thursday after Polis’ rebuttal.
“I find that so sad, because these are real people, just like the Romeros, who are suffering on the other side of those doors, who live behind four bolts and a door handle and who live in fear every day in these complexes,” she says. told Fox News.
But she said: ‘It’s promising that people across the board are actually seeing what’s happening.
“Only to our governor in Colorado is the video evidence undeniable,” Jurinsky said.
‘Everyone in the country sees this with their own eyes.’