The Republican mayor of Aurora, Colorado, stated former President Donald Trump’s rally within the metropolis Friday introduced a possibility “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 the town was a “struggle zone” overrun with members of a Venezuelan gang.
Throughout final month’s presidential debate towards Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump pointed to Aurora as proof that immigrants are “violently” taking on the city. “You have a look at Aurora in Colorado. They’re taking on the cities. They’re taking on buildings,” Trump stated.
Coffman stated considerations about gang exercise have been “grossly exaggerated.” He stated the “incidents have been restricted to a number of residence complexes on this metropolis of greater than 400,000 residents.”
Aurora Police Division Chief Todd Chamberlain stated in a Sept. 20 press convention that the town is “not by any means overtaken by Venezuelan gangs.”
Central to the gang takeover claims is a viral video exhibiting armed males coming into an residence in Aurora on Aug. 18. The incident led to the deadly capturing of a 25-year-old man, police stated.
An area councilwoman shared the video on Fb, claiming a gang took over “complete residence complexes” within the metropolis. Coffman shared a screenshot from the video and stated the town is working to “request an emergency courtroom order to clear the residence buildings the place Venezuelan gang exercise has been occurring.”
Nevertheless, after patrolling the complicated, the police division stated gang members had not taken over the constructing and residents weren’t paying hire to gangs. Coffman additionally visited the constructing and stated tenants informed him they didn’t have security considerations however have been alarmed by rubbish “piling up” and a “rodent infestation.”
Coffman stated tenants informed him that they had not been paying hire as a result of “there was not an onsite property supervisor who had at all times collected the hire.” Coffman stated 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 report” and say gang members haven’t “taken over” the town.
Police stated as of Sept. 20, they don’t have any info that leads them to consider the lads within the video are in a gang.
Chamberlain stated Aurora, like some other metropolis, does have crime and gang exercise. The police division stated it arrange a particular process power with native, state, and federal officers to deal with gang exercise.
The police division stated it has linked 10 folks to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and eight of these folks have been arrested as of Sept. 11. However Chamberlain stated there’s “numerous complexity” when figuring out suspects as gang members, including that it has been “a battle.”
“The one factor I actually need to make sure on on this entire dialogue is that it is a concentrate on felony habits, this isn’t a concentrate on immigration standing,” Chamberlain stated.