Immigrant gang activity in Aurora, Colorado, is making residents feel threatened and some are avoiding the city because of it, locals told DailyMail.com.
Speaking to a crowd of thousands on Friday in Aurora, Colorado, Donald Trump criticized the immigration policies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, blaming them for local immigrant gang activity.
Reports about the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua (TDA) operating in Aurora went viral in August after a video showed men with rifles and pistols threatening apartment residents before a 25-year-old man was released. shot dead.
However, Colorado Governor Jared Polis has said that TDA’s presence in the area does not amount to a takeover or the “war zone” that Trump has described.
But MAGA faithful who attended Trump’s rally on Friday insisted that security in Aurora has worsened because of gang activity.
Residents of Aurora and neighboring towns revealed to DailyMail.com that they are concerned about immigrant gangs in the city.
Recon, a Marine Corps veteran and Aurora resident, told DailyMail.com that the media has not followed TDA gang activity closely enough.
‘I’m from Aurora Colorado, I was born and raised in Denver Aurora. I went to the Marine Corps for eight years and came home. When it comes to the immigrant situation, I’m going to be honest with you: the news, the media, and the Democrats are covering it up because it’s bad for politics.’
He said TDA gang activity is real and “just spreading through the communities they’re targeting,” noting that gang activity doesn’t occur in nicer areas.
‘They’re not going to send them to Highlands Ranch. They will not send them to the town of Cherry Hills. “They won’t send them to Boulder, they won’t send them to Fort Collins,” Recon continued.
“So the issue is that they are sending them to black communities, which is a conflict of interest considering that since the cost of inflation has increased, everything has become more expensive and people can’t even pay.” . for childcare.’
Supporters applaud as former President Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate, arrives at a campaign rally at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Aurora, Colorado. Rally attendees spoke to DailyMail.com about TDA activity in the area
Cortney, another Aurora resident who lives 20 minutes from the apartment where the immigrant gang activity was filmed, admitted that “all of Aurora has gone downhill.”
He said the national attention on the local problem has been a positive development since gang activity has been going on for a while.
But he said the problem is not specific to just his city.
“Most of Colorado has been overrun by homeless people, drugs and illegal aliens,” he added.
When asked if she had seen anything suspicious, Cortney said she hadn’t seen anything firsthand, but had been reading a lot about it on social media.
Another Colorado resident, Jen, told DailyMail.com: ‘Well, I heard they’re taking over parts of Aurora. Oh, they’re in Denver too, but I hear they finance themselves by breaking into gun stores and jewelry stores.
The Aurora Police Department confirmed in recent weeks that “four Latino teenagers” robbed a sporting goods store, although the advertisement He did not specify whether they were migrants or involved with TDA.
Additionally, several Venezuelan immigrants, one of them a suspected member of the TDA, robbed a jewelry store in Denver at gunpoint over the summer, according to the Department of Justice.
‘During the robbery, the suspects pointed guns at employees, hit several employees with their weapons, and took a large amount of gold and jewelry. The suspects were later located in the El Paso, Texas area,” the Department of Justice Memorandum saying.
Trump spoke next to mugshots of migrants taken by the Aurora Police Department
A boy guides his bicycle past apartment buildings as a courtyard demonstration takes place to address chronic problems in apartment buildings occupied by people displaced from their home countries in Central and South America in Aurora.
“They’re definitely taking over apartment buildings,” Mark, a lifelong Colorado resident, told DailyMail.com, citing the now-viral video as evidence.
He lives in Bennett, Colorado, and revealed that people in his town were afraid to go to Aurora because of the reports.
‘Everyone talks about it. They won’t go into that area, you know? I mean, they’re afraid to go there.
“The less I have to come to the city, the better off I am,” he said.
Footage from a resident at an Aurora apartment complex appeared to show armed men knocking on a door, intensifying fears that the Tren de Aragua gang was in control of the complex.
People line up to hear Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump speak.
Frederick of Windsor, Colorado, said the claims have largely been confirmed.
“There were immigrants, there were people from Venezuela in the apartments, we all saw the video,” he told DailyMail.com. “Whether they’re gang members or not, who knows, but they’re guys with long guns walking around intimidating residents.”
“The gang members were asking for their keys to be copied and for (the residents) to pay them instead of the owners,” he continued.
He wasn’t sure how many TDA members were involved, but he was convinced that at least some were part of the group.
‘It’s not really a mystery. And if their apartments are occupied, I don’t know what it is, but there are people who are afraid that it won’t be that way.’