Aurora Residents Confirm Venezuelan Gang Violence
COLORADO - Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) took action on the Venezuelan gang activity in Aurora by leading a letter and hosting a listening roundtable to expose violence and to try to stop crime by Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang members that are terrorizing Colorado.
September 6, 2024, Listening Session Roundtable on TdA Gang
Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) stated, "The purpose of the listening session roundtable was to get the truth and information out to Coloradans because, unfortunately, the fake news and liberal politicians with an agenda continue to downplay the violence and Venezuelan gang activity in Colorado. Shamefully, they claim the criminal activity we are seeing by these illegal Tren de Aragua gang members are figments of our imaginations and call us conspiracy theorists rather than trying to investigate what's really going on in order to help protect Coloradans. Instead of actually going in and doing whatever they can at any means necessary to expose the criminal activity and the violence that is taking place and the harm that is being caused, they want to cover up anything that does not go with their narrative of wide-open borders and sanctuary policies put forward by the Democrats. At our listening session roundtable, we heard firsthand testimony from local residents about how Tren de Aragua gang members have held families at gunpoint, kicked in doors and taken over apartments, shot up cars, stabbed tires and committed other violent crimes. Rather than denying the gang's existence, all elected officials and agencies need to work together to protect our communities from this terror and to ensure these illegal immigrant gang members are deported. Protecting the people of Colorado from the Tren de Aragua gang shouldn't be political or a partisan issue and that is why we invited numerous local elected officials on both sides of the aisle to participate in this listening session roundtable."
Cindy Romero Gave Gut-wrenching Testimony
Cindy Romero, a former resident at the Edge at Lowry apartment complex who shared the viral video of Tren de Aragua gang members carrying guns at her apartment complex, spoke at the roundtable and said, "I'm imploring anyone to listen. Please do something. Don't deny it, it wasn't my imagination. The rest of the video I have, the screenshots, the many calls to 9/11 begging for help...I saw them moving the guns that morning, I called and reported it. I have cameras picking them up, moving the guns from one building to another...I caught a screenshot of them holding a family on my floor by gunpoint, looking for whatever they were looking for. If they are allowed to fester it’s just going to get worse. There are bullet holes in my car, we’ve had our tires stabbed, we’ve had our tailgates broken and I have reported so many crimes in that area that I had to leave, because I am not bulletproof...I've got bullet holes in my car, I've got a target on my back...My kids [wouldn't] come visit...My grandson hasn't been over to that building in a year and a half...I've been reporting guns in that building for a long time and nothings been done. Or I drop off videos to the police and their hands are tied. They can't do anything. They are overwhelmed...There are many times I called the nonemergency number and sat on hold 45 minutes just to be told they weren't coming...No matter how unsafe I felt, no matter what was being damaged in the parking lot, they were not coming. Because they had to get together a large group of officers just to respond [to that apartment complex]...If the owner's aren't there and the management isn't there but the people who have the guns are and they changed the locks on the outside of the building, that's a takeover."
Local small business owner Chet Ellefson
Aurora resident and small business owner Chet Ellefson discussed the conditions he saw when he helped Aurora Council Member Danielle Jurinsky move Cindy Romero and her family out of the Edge at Lowry apartment complex stating, "It was a completely eye-opening experience...I was in a Third World country for an hour that day. 90% of the doors in the building that we moved [cindy] out of were kicked in and had a ghetto repair done to the door jamb...When we got there the police said yeah we know this area real well, we actually aren't allowed to respond unless there are four officers that can respond to them...The fact that [gang members] don't care about the police. There is no fear when it comes to the police. They [even] tried to attack [Council Member Jurinsky]. It's just crazy. Before we were done moving everything out of their apartment, people were already moving into the apartment to squat. We weren't even fully out yet and people were moving in...I'm a father of two young kids and its 7.7 miles away from my front door. It's just too close."
Congressman Chip Roy Speaking at the Listening Roundtable
Congressman Chip Roy said during the roundtable, "One of the most important things we can for the country, for the state, for the City of Aurora, and for the people back home in Texas that I represent is establish the facts on the ground. There is a lot of information flying around. We just heard very heartfelt testimony from Cindy and what she's gone through both as a human and as a resident of an apartment complex. She's on the ground...I just want truth...In fiscal year 2022, ICE only removed 40,096 criminal aliens which was a 62% decrease from fiscal year 2020. We are removing very few people on a relative basis historically, when we have volumes more people and volumes more known criminals."
Former ICE Director Tom Homan
Former U.S. Immigration and Custom's Enforcement (ICE) Director Tom Homan stated, "You have 200 underlying problems. Number one, you got the [biden] administration who unsecured the border and released millions of people into the United States with no proper vetting...98% of the people being released there is no data on them. We know a large percentage are criminals...So what sanctuary cities actually do is provide sanctuary for criminals...Sanctuary cities are a problem in this state, and you got to get rid of it."
Former ICE Field Office Director John Fabbricatore
Former ICE Field Office Director John Fabbricatore said, "The recidivism based on the arrests that ICE had made of criminal convicted aliens, each one of them on average had four additional convictions...Again, they're getting put out on the streets and they're committing more crimes because criminal illegal aliens are true criminals...Much of what we are getting from Venezuela, they have been committing crimes in those countries and that was their job there...The other thing we need to be careful of is what the stats say and what they are. You are going to have a smaller crime stat when you have less police officers working...Aurora PD we are down 200 officers...Right now I'm getting messages from many citizens who say we called the police and they don't show up. Hours later they'll call us and say hey can you do a report online. That's not going into the system as a criminal statistic...Another reason we are seeing a drop in criminal statistics...We would arrest guys for dealing heroine on the [Cherry Creek Trail], they would be brought into Denver Drug Court and the charges would be dropped the minute they found out that they were illegal aliens because they didn't want them to go into the Denver County Jail and have to spend money on housing illegal aliens in the Denver County Jail."
Aurora Council Member Danielle Jurinsky
Aurora Council Member Danielle Jurinsky said, "During the Venezuelan election on July 9th, 4,000-5,000 people showed up in Aurora at a major intersection. What was most alarming was the sheer numbers. Police told us this was unprecedented. They had never seen a popup gathering happen so fast with so many people that no one had any intel about. There were several crimes committed. That intersection borders Denver and Aurora...We [also] learned that two nonprofits were placing migrant individuals and families in Aurora. No housing quality inspections were conducted to check for basic life safety concerns prior to placing individuals in apartments in Aurora. From my understanding, deposit assistance was offered as well as three months of rent. This was done starting in the Spring of 2023 and continued into the Spring of 2024...Two of the nonprofits received state and Denver funding as passthrough agencies...Denver tax dollars moved these folks into Aurora."
Aurora Council Member Stephanie Hancock
Aurora Council Member Stephanie Hancock stated, “These gangs prey on that vulnerability and the fact that we don’t have teeth with what law enforcement can do and what ICE can do. They know this, they know better than we do. We keep getting revictimized and nothing is going to get done until we put some feet on our faith and do the work that it takes...I work in multi-family housing, and I've seen it firsthand. Where they bring folks in say they'll pay their deposit, they'll pay their fees, they'll pay three months' rent, they drop them off and you never see them again. They don't follow up. You don't know how they are going to be paying their rent after three months, and to Cindy's point where they chased off the management company, its primed for takeover and it happens quite a bit. It's just that this has gotten the attention, but this is not isolated sadly."
Aurora Residents Fred and Tracy Ludlow
Aurora resident Fred Ludlow said, "I almost couldn't believe that it could be that bad. So, when I went and saw it, it's like standing out in the rain and saying it's not raining. And you know, here's an umbrella. Why? Cause it's raining. No, it's not. It was clearly a lawless situation. And I came home and talked to Tracy and showed her pictures and out of 50 cars that were there, there were probably five or six that had license plates...It didn't hit the news. It kept getting worse and then I heard about Cindy's apartment. That really brought it home. You're looking at it saying I know people are having to live through that."
State Representative Ron Weinberg and State Senator Mark Baisley
State Senator Mark Baisley said, "My constituents are in fear about what's happening in Aurora. [My bill] that I plan to run again would override the current restrictions that disallow law enforcement from working with ICE...Here is a law enforcement chief who is asking me to release them so they can work with ICE [to address these illegal immigration issues]. All 64 Colorado county sheriffs are expected to rise up and support my bill next year because they need the authority to move folks, who are dangerous to the people they serve and protect, to somewhere else like the country where they came from."
State Representative Anthony Hartsook
State Representative Anthony Hartsook stated, "I have constituents that have it on their Ring cameras where the Venezuelans have broken in their house, they've called the police and the police have showed up and said we can't do anything, we can't arrest them, we can't prosecute them, we can't deport them, and the Venezuelans know this, they flip us off, they curse us...Right now [they] don't know what they are going to do because right now no one wants to buy [their home] when there are gangs sitting across the street. [Additionally,] the people that live here couldn't get services because Denver Health was overwhelmed with the 40,000+ [illegal] immigrants. You look at the school systems, they are overwhelmed. Money that should be going and is allocated by the taxpayers to pay for law enforcement, fire, schools, roads is being diverted to these [illegal immigration] programs thereby causing shortages to hire law enforcement."
State Representative Ron Weinberg and State Senator Mark Baisley
State Representative Ron Weinberg who is working with Senator Baisley to overturn the state law that prevents local counties from communicating and coordinating with ICE for removals said, "This is why we are running into this problem in Aurora, and if we don’t stop it and do something about it now, it’s not going to stop. It’s going to take over the whole county.”
September 6, 2024, Listening Session Roundtable on TdA Gang
Douglas County Commissioner George Teal discussed the counties' lawsuit against the state of Colorado for its sanctuary statutes that restrict local law enforcement from working with ICE on illegal immigration. He also referenced ongoing investigations by the Douglas County Sheriff and criminal issues associated with illegal immigration that are starting to creep into the county.
Background
On September 6th, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, Congressman Chip Roy, Congressman Doug Lamborn and Congressman Greg Lopez sent a letter to multiple local and federal officials asking for answers and urging them to take action against Tren de Aragua gang members that are terrorizing Colorado.
Also on September 6th, Congresswoman Boebert, Congressman Chip Roy, Former ICE Director Tom Homan, and Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky hosted a listening session roundtable at Aurora City Hall that was attended by local residents and concerned citizens that have witnessed and been victimized by this illegal immigrant Venezuelan gang.
Participants in the Roundtable Listening Session included: Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03), Congressman Chip Roy (TX-21), Former ICE Director Tom Homan, Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, Aurora City Councilwoman Stephanie Hancock, Douglas County Commissioner George Teal, State Senator Mark Baisley (SD04), State Representative Anthony Hartsook (HD44), State Representative Ron Weinberg (HD51) Cindy Romero (Aurora apartment resident that moved out), Chet Ellefson (Aurora resident and local small business owner) Fred Ludlow (Aurora resident and manufacturer), Tracy Ludlow (Aurora resident and local realtor), and John Fabbricatore (Former ICE Field Office Director).
The Biden-Harris Administration’s open border policies coupled with the state of Colorado’s sanctuary policies and the city of Denver’s sanctuary city status have fueled and exasperated the immigration crisis in Colorado. Since Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office there have been over 10 million illegal aliens caught entering America. They have knowingly released nearly 100 terrorists and more than 5.6 million illegals into the U.S. 75,000 American died from fentanyl poisoning in 2023 alone. According to a June report by the Common Sense Institute, the city of Denver, local school districts, and the region’s health-care system have spent as much as $340 million to shelter, feed, clothe, educate the migrants, and to provide emergency medical care to more than 42,000 illegal immigrants since January of 2023.
Numerous criminal acts have been committed by Tren de Aragua gang members in recent months in Colorado including:
- Took over at least three apartment complexes in Aurora.
- Four Tren de Aragua gang members that were released by the Biden Regime into the United States were arrested for attempted murder in Aurora.
- Committed a violent Denver jewelry heist.
- Beat and stomped a consultant for the property management company so severely he went to the hospital.
- Stabbed a resident for refusing to pay rent to the gang and threatened to kill a property manager.
- Aurora police documents revealed that the gang threatened to kill a housekeeper and her family if she didn’t give them keys to vacant apartments.
- Violently broke into vacant apartments, kicking doors open, and moving Venezuelan illegal immigrants into empty apartments.
The nonpartisan Denver law firm Perkins Coie, whose lawyers said they investigated widespread criminal conduct by the TdA gang members at Whispering Pines Apartments, released an investigative report in August that "found evidence of gang members committing several crimes, from 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.”
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