Aurora Mayor Denies Trump's Gang Takeover Claims
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman has refuted former President Donald Trump's claims that the city is overrun by Venezuelan gangs. Coffman called the claims "grossly exaggerated" and said the incidents were limited to a few apartment complexes.
Coffman's statement follows weeks of misleading claims by Trump that Aurora was a "war zone" overrun with gang members. During the presidential debate, Trump pointed to Aurora as evidence that immigrants are "violently" taking over the town.
Coffman said concerns about gang activity have been "grossly exaggerated." He said the "incidents were limited to several apartment complexes in this city of more than 400,000 residents."
Aurora Police Department Chief Todd Chamberlain also denied the claims, stating that the city is "not by any means overtaken by Venezuelan gangs."
The claims stemmed from a viral video showing armed men entering an apartment in Aurora on August 18th. The incident led to the fatal shooting of a 25-year-old man.
A local councilwoman shared the video on Facebook, claiming that a gang had taken over "entire apartment complexes" in the city. Coffman shared a screenshot from the video and said that the city was working to "request an emergency court order to clear the apartment buildings where Venezuelan gang activity has been occurring."
However, after patrolling the complex, the police department said that gang members had not taken over the building and residents were not paying rent to gangs. Coffman also visited the building and said that tenants told him they did not have safety concerns but were alarmed by garbage "piling up" and a "rodent infestation."
Coffman said that tenants told him they had not been paying rent because "there was no longer an onsite property manager who had always collected the rent." Coffman said that initial reports of a gang takeover came from the property management company, CBZ Management.
The mayor and councilwoman released a statement on September 11th to "clear the record" and say that gang members have not "taken over" the city.
Police said as of September 20th, they do not have any information that leads them to believe the men in the video are in a gang.
Chamberlain said that Aurora, like any other city, does have crime and gang activity. The police department said it set up a special task force with local, state, and federal officials to address gang activity.
The police department said it has linked 10 people to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua and eight of those people have been arrested as of September 11th. But Chamberlain said there is "a lot of complexity" when identifying suspects as gang members, adding that it has been "a struggle."
"The one thing I really want to make certain on in this whole discussion is that this is a focus on criminal behavior, this is not a focus on immigration status," Chamberlain said.