A Colorado city in the national spotlight for immigration-related crime has identified 10 members of an international gang operating in its limits — with nine of them behind bars.
Those arrested face charges “ranging from felony menacing to child abuse and attempted first-degree murder,” according to KMGH-TV in Denver.
And while Democrats and the establishment media are trying to downplay the problem, the city councilwoman who has done the most to draw attention to it isn’t backing down.
The city of Aurora, in the Denver suburbs, has been in the headlines since news broke about illegal immigrants from Venezuela — members of the Tren de Aragua gang — violently taking over an apartment building.
For conservatives, the problem has become an example of the kind of crime unleashed by the illegal immigration tidal wave of the Biden-Harris years.
Former President Donald Trump even brought it up at Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, as KMGH reported.
Meanwhile, liberals, like Democratic Gov. Jared Polis governor of Colorado, have tried to play it down as the “imagination” of City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky.
Jurinsky was at the forefront of efforts to publicize Aurora’s situation.
In a Sept. 3 social media post, she wrote, “I have said many times that this is not just an Aurora problem. This is a national problem. I don’t know that entire cities are being taken over, but certainly, entire complexes are.”
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Aurora city council posts are officially nonpartisan, but Jurinsky is a Republican, according to Denver’s KUSA.
In a joint statement she released Wednesday with Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman — a former congressman and fellow Republican — Jurinsky noted that the influence of the gang “is limited to specific properties, all of which the city has been addressing in various ways for months.”
The statement was published to social media by KUSA journalist Kyle Clark. The entire statement, not just Clark’s summary, should be read to get the full context.
NEW: @AuroraMayorMike and Councilwoman @DaniJurinsky release a joint statement on Venezuelan gang activity, saying, “overstated claims fueled by social media and through select news organizations are simply not true.” Statement says “a select few properties” affected. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/5SxuOKINuN
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) September 11, 2024
Many liberals and liberal media outlets took the statement as backpedaling.
Axios, for instance, headlined its report on the joint statement with, “Aurora leaders backtrack on ‘overstated’ claims of Venezuelan gang activity.”
But Jurinsky is making it clear that she isn’t endorsing the Democratic take.
When Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, who represents Aurora, took to the social media platform X to thank her for “setting the record straight,” Jurinsky fired back.
The City of Aurora didn’t put this statement out. Mayor Coffman and I did with the endorsement of APD. I’d like to point out that we said that “a select few properties do not apply to the city as a whole.” Neither Coffman nor myself have ever said that the entire city had been… https://t.co/IEbgUFtq5W
— Danielle Jurinsky (@DaniJurinsky) September 12, 2024
“Neither Coffman nor myself have ever said that the entire city had been taken over. You either can’t read or flat out, don’t care that Tren de Aragua ‘had significantly affected those properties,’” Jurinsky wrote.
“By significantly affected, I mean, and let be very clear for you, Jason, the Tren de Aragua gang took over entire apartment complexes. This is confirmed. Hence, the statement.
“What’s the threshold for you to give a damn? 5 complexes? 10 complexes? 500 people? Get off your a** and remember the oath you took to protect this country against all enemies, both foreign and domestic! Tren de Aragua is a Trans National Gang that is terrorizing constituents that you and I both serve. Shut up and show up.”
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