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:
- 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.”
- 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.”
- 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.
- 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.***
Colorado’s Democrat Governor Jared Polis is ridiculing claims that gun-toting men stormed apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado, despite clear video evidence and confirmation issued by the town’s own mayor.
This week, video has gone viral showing men carrying pistols and rifles through the halls of an apartment complex in Aurora, a suburb near Denver. According to a News Nation report, “DHS sources confirm the individuals in this video at an Aurora apartment complex are members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA).” TdA has exploded in membership here in the United States as a result of the Biden-Harris border crisis.
Despite the clear evidence in the video, though, the state’s Democrat governor, Jared Polis, is ridiculing those who claim that apartment buildings are being taken over by migrant gangs.
Polis spokesman Shelby Wieman says that the state is standing by to “support the local police department with assistance from state troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation if needed,” the New York Post reported.
But Wieman went on to claim that the warnings about the migrant gangs are just a figment of Aurora council member Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination.
Wieman said that “according to police intelligence this purported invasion is largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination.” Wieman also claimed that crime in Aurora dropped between 2022 and 2023.
The spokesman also slammed local Aurora officials, adding that Gov. Polis “really hopes that the city council members in charge stop trashing their own city when they are supposed to keep it safe.”
This attack on council member Jurinsky’s integrity, though, does not square with the video. In fact, it also seems to diverge widely from comments by Aurora’s own mayor, Mike Coffman, who has confirmed that several apartment complexes have recently become hotbeds of gang activity.
Coffman told Fox News that “there are several buildings” in his city that have “fallen to these Venezuelan gangs.”
The mayor added that the buildings in question were being used as state-funded migrant housing, which is why the gangs were able to take them over so easily and quickly.
For her part, Jurinsky placed the blame squarely on the failed Biden-Harris migrant crisis, and the nearby city of Denver, which precipitated the problems in Aurora by its permissive sanctuary policies.
“This is a problem that is not just a Denver Metro area problem … [it] stems from a failed southern border,” Jurinsky exclusively told Breitbart News on Thursday.
“This is not just happening in Aurora, Colorado, I cannot stress that enough. But we need to be getting other municipalities, other agencies to talk about this, because this is something that could potentially put a black eye on the organization or the city or the area that you represent,” she added.
Former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office director and Colorado Republican congressional candidate John Fabbricatore blasted Gov. Polis for his claims that the gang problem is somehow imaginary.
“So now Jared Polis believes this is all made-up theatre. Yes, Governor, we hired a Hollywood director and filmed this to make you look bad. – No, The Biden/Harris administration caused this problem, and you advocated for it,” Fabbricatore wrote on X on Thursday.
Fabbricatore also jumped into action early this week to help an elderly woman move out of one of the apartment buildings targeted by the violent Venezuelan gang.
The candidate and former immigration official also noted that Jurinsky was on hand to observe as Fabbricatore and a crew of volunteers helped the elderly resident flee the dangerous apartment complex.
Others have also begun moving out of the buildings plagued by the gang.
“It’s been a nightmare, and I can’t wait to get out of here,” said resident Cindy Romero as she and her husband were moving out.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
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