OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
5:36 PM – Friday, August 30, 2024
Despite video evidence, police reports, and the city’s mayor verifying the situation, Democrat Colorado Gov. Jared Polis dismissed outrage over the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua occupying apartment buildings in the Aurora suburb of Denver, calling it “imagination.”
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In reaction to Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, who told reported that the gang takeovers are connected to Polis’s policies, Polis’s press office sent the caustic comment on Wednesday night.
“The Governor has already let the Mayor know that the State is ready to support the local police department with assistance from state troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation if needed,” said Shelby Wieman, a spokesperson for the Democratic governor. “But, according to police intelligence this purported invasion is largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination.”
Fox Denver surveillance footage on Wednesday night showed what appeared to be an armed group of men—later identified by law enforcement as members of Tren de Aragua—walking through an Aurora apartment complex brandishing weapons.
Tenants maintained that the complex had been taken over by the gang.
Just before a gunfire broke out at the troublesome residential area, injuring one person seriously, three of the men were observed entering the building with more handguns, while the other held a rifle.
Furthermore, “there are several buildings” in Aurora that have “fallen to these Venezuelan gangs,” according to Mayor Mike Coffman, who spoke with Fox News on Thursday.
Denver, a sanctuary city located just west of Aurora, is the nation’s city with the highest per capita immigration rate; the majority of these migrants are from Venezuela. Since December 2022, almost 40,000 migrants have come there to live.
The apartment investor, who did not give permission for his name to be identified, told the New York Post outlet that because the gang has taken over many units, they have “lost control” of multiple buildings in the area.
“They were first hanging out around the property and creating a bad element that’s constantly there. And then they started taking over, quite a few months ago, they started taking over vacant units,” he said.
Gov. Polis has consistently supported Colorado’s sanctuary policy throughout the whole ordeal in addition to acting like nothing negative is happening.
In order to facilitate their new life in the state, the governor has recently signed legislation that would make it simpler for illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses, enroll in classes, and access government-funded facilities.
Polis decided to begin busing migrants to New York City in 2023 when the number of migrants became too great, however, the program has since been discontinued.
Nevertheless, a large number of people remained, and some even relocated to the 390,000-person Aurora neighborhood, where the gang currently controls a number of flats.
“It’s been a nightmare and I can’t wait to get out of here,” said apartment resident Cindy Romero, who spoke with Fox Denver as she began moving out of the building.
The group, which is from the Aragua region of Venezuela, has been transporting members over the US-Mexico border under the Harris and Biden administration.
The Biden administration also just classified the gang as a transnational criminal organization.
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