Colorado mayor, police respond to Trump's claims that Venezuelan gang is 'taking over'
Following former president Donald Trump's comments during Tuesday's debate regarding a Venezuelan gang invading a Colorado city, the mayor of Aurora and its local police leaders announced several arrests and addressed the Republican presidential nominee's claims.
Aurora police have arrested 10 alleged members of the Tren de Aragua, a large criminal organization from Venezuela, and charged them with various offenses — including first-degree assault, aggravated assault, shootings, a hit-and-run crash, a domestic dispute and other instances of assault, according to a Facebook post shared by the department on Wednesday.
The 10 suspects were all arrested following different incidents in Aurora dating back to February, police said.
"The Aurora Police Department has been actively investigating reports that members of a Venezuelan prison gang, Tren de Aragua, have been living in Aurora and committing acts of violence against members of the migrant community," according to the social media post.
Aurora is one of the principal cities in the Denver metro area, and is the third-most-populous city in Colorado
Trump mentions Venezuelan gang being in Aurora during ABC debate
The announcement of the arrests comes weeks after stories began to spread about the Venezuelan gang "taking over" an apartment complex and making its tenants pay them rent. Interim Aurora Police Chief Heather Morris said in a video shared on Aug. 30 that The Edge at Lowry Apartments is not being "taken over" by the Tren de Aragua.
"We've been talking to the residents here and learning from them to find out what exactly is going on, and there's definitely a different picture," Morris said in the video. "I'm not saying that there's not gang members that don't live in this community."
Despite Morris' and city officials' attempts to debunk the rumors, Trump still made mention of the gang's presence in the city during the debate Tuesday on ABC News.
"We have millions of people pouring into our country from prisons and jails, from mental institutions and insane asylums," Trump said. "… You see what's happening with towns throughout the United States. You look at Springfield, Ohio. You look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over the towns. They're taking over buildings. They're going in violently. These are the people that (Vice President Kamala Harris) and (President Joe Biden) let into our country. And they're destroying our country. They're dangerous. They're at the highest level of criminality."
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman 'would like to clear the record'
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman and Council Member and Public Safety Chair Danielle Jurinsky released a statement on Wednesday following the arrests and Trump's comments.
"We would like to clear the record about the widely reported presence of Tren de Aragua (TdA) in Aurora and across the metro area," the statement reads. "... The city’s duty is to make sure it gathers and presents factual, accurate, and comprehensive information about any issue affecting the community. We reiterate that the safety, security, and well-being of community members and visitors is of paramount concern to us and the city."
Coffman's and Jurinsky's statement goes on to explain how the issues in the city have been "experienced at a select few properties (and) do not apply to the city as a whole or large portions of it."
"TdA has not 'taken over' the city," the statement continued. "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."
'We are optimistic about public safety in our city'
The city officials also noted how "well before concerns about TdA in Colorado generated national attention, (the Aurora Police Department) had been arresting people for various criminal activities who had suspected, but not necessarily confirmed, TdA connections."
"To date, APD has now linked 10 people to TdA and has arrested eight of those people," according to the statement. "Two of the eight individuals who were taken into custody were involved in a July shooting at one of the specific properties in the city that have experienced issues with TdA activity. In line with these arrests, we can also now confirm that criminal activity, including TdA issues, had significantly affected those properties."
Coffman and Jurinsky called the "criminal element" of this situation a "regional issue" and referenced separate arrests that have been made in Denver and Arapahoe County. The statement also mentioned the creation of a special task force consisting of Aurora police and other local and federal agencies to "address concerns about TdA and other criminal activity affecting our communities."
"We are optimistic about public safety in our city," the statement read. "We will continue to embrace our identity as the most diverse city in Colorado and remain steadfast in our commitment to arrest bad actors."