Heading south from Wyoming into Colorado on Interstate 25, there is a warning that — no matter what officialdom says — there is trouble ahead.
The sign reads, “Venezuela Ahead, Be Prepared” along with a Venezuelan flag, according to KCDO-TV.
In late August, multiple reports emerged that in Aurora, Colorado, a Denver suburb, the fearsome Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang had seized control of an apartment complex, with video showing armed gang members outside the door of an apartment.
An Armed Illegal Alien Street Gang from Venezuela Seizes an Apartment Complex in Aurora, Colorado—Residents Terrified!
Meanwhile, Joe Biden is on his second vacation in two weeks and Kamala Harris is preparing for her first interview in 40 days.
Who is running the country? pic.twitter.com/HE7zL8RPLC
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) August 29, 2024
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Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman has said claims of the extent to which Venezuelan gangs operate at will in the city have been “grossly exaggerated,” according to CBS.
City council member Danielle Jurinsky, however, told Fox News that efforts to soft-pedal the crisis were from people “solely playing politics.”
“That is so sad to me because they’re real human beings … suffering on the other side of those doors, living behind four deadbolt locks and a door brace, and living in fear every day in these complexes,” she said.
The billboard has helped remind drivers that the issue is not going away just because politicians want it to.
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“I laughed when I saw it because billboards are effective,” Laramie County, Wyoming, Sheriff Brian Kozak said, according to Cowboy State Daily.
But some people are not laughing, according to KUSA.
Wyoming Republican Secretary of State Chuck Gray has said Democratic leaders in Colorado are seeking to take unspecified actions against Tim Mellon, who officials believe paid for the billboard.
“It is disturbing, but not surprising, that leftwing media outlets are demanding that government action should be taken against Tim Mellon for taking a stand and bringing awareness to the devastating effects of illegal immigration,” Gray said.
According to CBS, the extent of the problem at the Whispering Pines apartment complex in Aurora was shared with city officials in August in a report from the Perkins Coie law firm.
A large billboard along southbound Interstate 25 at the Colorado border warns drivers that they’re entering Venezuela, referencing nationally publicized rumors that a Venezuelan gang has taken over an apartment building in Aurora, a suburb of Denver (Cowboy State Daily). pic.twitter.com/czUFaIRdFO
— Julia 🇺🇸 (@Jules31415) September 23, 2024
“The evidence we have reviewed indicates that gang members are engaging in flagrant trespass violations, assaults and battery, human trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, unlawful firearms possession, extortion, and other criminal activities, often targeting vulnerable Venezuelan and other immigrant populations,” the report said.
“Tren de Aragua has threatened to kill (and, in certain instances, has apparently actively attempted to kill) members of Whispering Pines management,” the report said.
The report quoted the complex’s manager as saying, “gang members allegedly stabbed a Whispering Pines resident for refusing to pay ‘rent’ to the gang. Since then, the property has recorded footage of gang members knocking on doors and, without authorization or any other justification, attempting to collect rent from the tenants of Whispering Pines.”
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