Families Flee Colorado Apartment Buildings Populated by Venezuelan Gang Members

Update:  A September 15 New York Times story reports that stories of gun-toting Venezuelan migrants taking over an apartment building in Aurora, CO, are false.  However, the story also reports:

1. Regarding a viral video showing armed men storming an Aurora apartment building, the Times says, “The incident was reported as a connection to gang violence, particularly the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, though documentation was scarce.”
2. The company that owns the apartments, CBZ, through its public relations agent, told the media that, “An apartment building and its owners in Aurora, Colorado have become the most recent victims of the Venezuelan Gang Tren de Aragua’s violence, which has taken over several communities in the Denver area.  The residents and building owners of these properties have been left in a state of fear and chaos.”
3. The Times story claims this is “a false story, fueled by real problems,” namely that the CBZ apartments have descended into squalor and the city has been fighting to get them cleaned up.  The story quotes a resident as saying many there are squatters.  The article also says Aurora officials have indicated there are “criminal elements” in the apartment buildings, but not widespread gang activity.
4. Recently Aurora police arrested 10 Tren de Aragua gang members on an array of charges including felony menacing, attempted first-degree murder, assault, child abuse, and domestic abuse.  In the Times story, there was no mention as to whether these gang members were residents of the Aurora apartments that received so much media attention; however, according to a police report, some of the crimes were committed at CBZ-owned Fitzsimons Place apartments, which the city of Aurora recently closed due to code violations.

Separately, the Aurora mayor and a council member issued a statement that included this comment about Tren de Aragua (TdA):

“As for the perception and reality of public safety in Aurora, please understand that issues experienced at a select few properties do not apply to the city as a whole or large portions of it. TdA has not “taken over” the city. The overstated claims fueled by social media and through select news organizations are simply not true. Again, TdA’s presence in Aurora is limited to specific properties, all of which the city has been addressing in various ways for months.”

***Original story continues below.***

The nightmare faced by residents of several apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, continues, according to John Fabbricatore, a retired ICE Field Office Director who is now a candidate for Colorado Congressional District 6. Fabbricatore, once responsible for the detention and removal of migrants in Aurora and the surrounding area, was asked on Wednesday to help move several residents from one of Aurora’s apartment complexes infested with  violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang activity.

Fabbricatore told Breitbart Texas he and several others helped Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky move Cindy and Edward Romero from the complex recently plagued by the Tren de Aragua gang. After facing threats of violence and extortion attempts from armed gang members, the Romeros installed security cameras outside their apartment doorway. The cameras did little to stop the extortion attempts but did capture armed Venezuelan gang members roaming the building outside their doorway and gaining entrance to their neighbors’ apartments.

The incident captured by the Romeros was enough to force them to contact Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky and ask for help leaving the complex. Fabbricatore joined five others in helping the Romeros quickly pack their possessions from the one-bedroom apartment and leave within an hour on Wednesday. As Jurinsky arrived at the complex, a suspected gang member followed her up a stairwell as she approached Romeros’ apartment. Luckily, an Aurora police officer was nearby and prevented any attempt to stop her from contacting the Romeros.

Within hours of moving the Romeros from the apartment, Fabbricatore found squatters had already occupied the vacant apartment when he returned to retrieve the last of the family’s belongings.

According to Fabbricatore, several apartment buildings in Aurora remain plagued by the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, whose members were released into the United States by the Biden/Harris administration to pursue asylum claims.

Fabbricatore, a well-seasoned immigration officer, says historically, Immigration and Customs Enforcement would detain the gang members as they awaited court hearings while in custody. Instead, he says the Biden/Harris administration eliminated 20,000 detention beds and let them go free into the United States while they await asylum hearings years down the road. Fabbricatore called the process a “horrible use of policy.”

Shortly after the release of the video taken by Romero, the Aurora Police Department announced the assignment of four detectives to a special task force that will include additional local, state, and federal partners to investigate violent crimes impacting the migrant community. The announcement failed to recognize how the violent gang has impacted legal residents and citizens like the Romero family, who were forced to leave their residences because of the gang’s activity.

“What is happening with migrant gang violence in Aurora, Colorado, should not be happening anywhere in the US.,” Fabbricatore told Breitbart Texas. “The Biden/Harris administration has allowed the chaos at the border to filter into middle America.”  The congressional candidate and former ICE Field Operations Director added that the United States cannot take another four years of an open border under a Kamala Harris administration.

The Biden/Harris administration has yet to comment on the issues impacting Aurora residents.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.

Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.