Aurora police participate in ‘regional approach’ to protect migrants from Venezuelan gang violence

AURORA | The Aurora Police Department is working with state and county law enforcement to address concerns – real or imagined – regarding the presence of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, also known as TdA.

The influx of approximately 40,000 Venezuelan migrants into the Denver metropolitan area over the past two years has been accompanied by allegations of gang activity by certain Aurora residents and officials.

For example, some of them are said to have exaggerated the level of violence and lawlessness at a gathering of 3,000 to 4,000 migrants at a shopping center in Aurora on July 28. That was election day in Venezuela, and opposition candidate Edmundo González was expected to deliver a crushing defeat of incumbent dictator Nicolás Maduro. Maduro later declared himself the winner of another six-year term.

Some city officials and others attributed – without evidence – the city's decision to close Aspen Grove, a deteriorating apartment complex in northern Aurora, last week to the presence of TdA gang members. The allegations were refuted by city staff, who countered that the complex was closed because of building code violations.

At least three council members said they couldn't believe their own city staff's reasons for evicting tenants from the 98-unit building – many of them newcomers from Venezuela.

“None of us believe this is based on a building code violation,” Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky said during an Aug. 8 meeting of the City Council's Public Safety Committee, referring to herself and Councilmembers Stephanie Hancock and Steve Sundberg. “The three of us believe there is a huge gang problem.”

Jurinsky said that despite a lack of evidence to support the building owner's claims that gang members occupied the building, “our opinions are not up for debate.”

Aurora Police have neither confirmed nor denied the presence of TdA members in this building or elsewhere in the city, nor have they provided any details about what activities they might be responsible for.

“I don’t think Venezuelan gangs pose a major security risk in the city of Aurora,” Chris Juul, deputy police chief, told the Guardian last week.

Aurora police continue to investigate a shooting that occurred late Sunday near East 12th Avenue and Dallas Street, noting that “there is currently no information to suggest that this incident is connected to the TdA organization or its members.”

Nevertheless, Aurora police responded on Monday to “concerns raised at the local, state and national levels” about TdA’s activities in the city by issuing a carefully worded press release saying they were joining a regional initiative to “combat crime involving immigrant communities.”

In collaboration with the Colorado State Patrol and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, police departments and sheriff's offices in the metropolitan area have formed a task force to “assist agencies across the region in their ongoing investigations with the goal of improving communications, sharing information and maximizing investigative resources,” the announcement said.

“APD will not tolerate violent crime in our communities,” it said. “We remind all community members, including members of our immigrant communities, to report crimes committed against them to their local law enforcement agencies and not to remain silent victims.”

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