The Republican mayor of Aurora, Colorado, mentioned former President Donald Trump’s rally within the metropolis Friday offered a chance “to point out him and the nation” that Aurora is “not a metropolis overrun by Venezuelan gangs.”
Mayor Mike Coffman made the assertion Tuesday after weeks of deceptive claims by the previous president that town was a “conflict zone” overrun with members of a Venezuelan gang.
Throughout final month’s presidential debate in opposition to Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump pointed to Aurora as proof that immigrants are “violently” taking on the city. “You take a look at Aurora in Colorado. They’re taking on the cities. They’re taking on buildings,” Trump mentioned.
Coffman mentioned considerations about gang exercise have been “grossly exaggerated.” He mentioned the “incidents had been restricted to a number of condominium complexes on this metropolis of greater than 400,000 residents.”
Aurora Police Division Chief Todd Chamberlain mentioned in a Sept. 20 press convention that town is “not by any means overtaken by Venezuelan gangs.”
Central to the gang takeover claims is a viral video displaying armed males coming into an condominium in Aurora on Aug. 18. The incident led to the deadly taking pictures of a 25-year-old man, police mentioned.
A neighborhood councilwoman shared the video on Fb, claiming a gang took over “whole condominium complexes” within the metropolis. Coffman shared a screenshot from the video and mentioned town is working to “request an emergency court docket order to clear the condominium buildings the place Venezuelan gang exercise has been occurring.”
Reuters/Isaiah J. Downing
Nevertheless, after patrolling the advanced, the police division mentioned gang members had not taken over the constructing and residents weren’t paying lease to gangs. Coffman additionally visited the constructing and mentioned tenants instructed him they didn’t have security considerations however had been alarmed by rubbish “piling up” and a “rodent infestation.”
Coffman mentioned tenants instructed him that they had not been paying lease as a result of “there was now not an onsite property supervisor who had all the time collected the lease.” Coffman mentioned preliminary stories of a gang takeover got here from the property administration firm, CBZ Administration. CBS Information reached out to CBZ Administration and has not heard again.
The mayor and councilwoman launched a assertion on Sept. 11 to “clear the document” and say gang members haven’t “taken over” town.
Police mentioned as of Sept. 20, they don’t have any info that leads them to consider the boys within the video are in a gang.
Chamberlain mentioned Aurora, like another metropolis, does have crime and gang exercise. The police division mentioned it arrange a particular activity power with native, state, and federal officers to handle gang exercise.
The police division mentioned it has linked 10 individuals to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and eight of these individuals have been arrested as of Sept. 11. However Chamberlain mentioned there’s “plenty of complexity” when figuring out suspects as gang members, including that it has been “a battle.”
“The one factor I actually wish to make sure on on this entire dialogue is that this can be a give attention to legal habits, this isn’t a give attention to immigration standing,” Chamberlain mentioned.
