Venezuelan Gangs OCCUPYING Aurora, Colorado?! Rising Examines THE FACTS

[Music] is a Venezuelan gang taking over Aurora Colorado that depends on who you ask the New York Post is reporting a Colorado landlord has just agreed to sell an apartment complex that was taken over by a violent Venezuelan migrant gang called trende aragua Denver Law Firm hired to investigate the alleged takeover recently issued a report to city leaders the report found trendee Raga gang members had taken over the Whispering Pines Apartments in 2023 and have engaged in violent assaults murder threats extortion and child prostitution plus a video last week went viral showing armed men knocking on an apartment door in one of the buildings in June attorneys for the landlord sent letters requesting help from local officials and police claiming Trend aragua had quote forcibly taken control of the complex the city deemed the complex a quote criminal nuisance and evicted the residents but police uh in the Denver suburb of Aurora uh denied the Venezuelan Gang has taken over uh this rundown apartment complex take a listen to the roora police chief uh the interim Chief rather Heather Morris we've been talking to the residents here and learning from them to find out what exactly is going on and there's definitely a different picture I'm not saying that there's not gang members that don't live in this community but what we're learning out here is that gang members have not taken over this complex we've really made an effort the last few days to just really ask the specific questions and the direct questions in terms of the gang activity and who's actually uh making sure that people aren't paying rent to gang leaders or gang members that that's not happening and we've discovered here today and talk and yesterday talking to you know so many residents that that's not the case and that was interim Aurora police chief Heather Morris the police department that she run says that they have established a special task force to address concerns about this gang uh they're so uh that are so far linked to people in the city uh and of course this Gang has arrested they've arrested six of these gang members City officials in Aurora also insist that the buildings were run down because of neglect by their property manager uh still this is a uh still uh what former president Trump is saying about this uh situation uh let's watch the former president take a look at Aurora in Colorado where Venezuelans are taking over the whole town they're taking over buildings the whole town and the sheriff who can blame them I mean they have AK47s you saw it the other day they're knocking down doors and occupying Apartments of people the people are petrified yeah so the um revisionist history going on here I think is not particularly comforting like okay maybe the gang is not in charge of or in control of the sending out rent requests and things like that okay fine but as you know as the mayor I believe this is the mayor you know said into statement Mayor Mike Kaufman yes I certainly believe that there were Venezuelan gang related problems as previously reported that caused the property managers to flee and he appreciates the work of the police in making multiple arrests relating to Venezuelan gang activities so it certainly sounds like the vene Venezuelan gang was operating out of this apartment building that that was a problem OB viously for the property owner and for the other tenants and that was the root of the problems you can debate the yes who's who's in control in a in a sort of in that sense who's building Plumbing reest in the building right that's not going to put anyone at ease oh they're not in control they're just they have a presence in the building and we've had to arrest many of them for crimes and I think the mayor said used the word infiltrated uh as the language there to describe the situation but yeah so this is being treated as like a oh right crazy rightwing people made up this story right well listen and again I think this is going to play heavily right the Optics of uh that video of that gang that we've seen uh in the news are certainly troubling uh images for especially Middle America right so this is obviously a righte political issue uh you saw the former president address that in that town hall last week and we'll see uh whether that uh really plays out in tomorrow's debate or on the campaign Trail I mean she's vulnerable on this issue right for what she said about the Border in the past the Border should be decriminalized I mean she was they the Democratic party did her no favors but asking her that and having her you know raise her hand or indicate that way you know Americans are so frustrated with our immigration problem right now and you know I'm someone who wants certainly more legal immigration I think immigrants contribute wonderfully to our country we need people to work in this country to build things and to contribute and you know we're a nation of immigrants and most of our ancestors are immigrants I have absolutely nothing against immigrants immigration is very important but what people don't like is that there are that they're they're streaming across the board contributing to unrest the images are undeniable and then you know we do want to have a vetting system we don't have to let violent criminals or terrorists into our country we absolutely can prohibit that if you want to come here and work not take advantage of welfare not get free housing come here and work great go through the process and we need to make the process easier the process is way too difficult so people who want to do it the right way wait in line for years and that's stupid and Congress needs to fix that uh right away but um but that we have a real need for some of these especially in some of these labor sectors do for these individuals to come legally Legally to this country to fuel this ongoing uh uh economic rise that we're seeing in terms of GDP we can talk about the margins in terms of where the economy stands I wonder though Robbie does this does this could this actually play to the vice president's Advantage uh with her uh you know she campaigned on taking on transnational gangs right so that was like foremost in her biography video uh in Chicago can she potentially flip this script maybe on the gang issue Less on the immigration issue uh or is it all just you know you think you know Out Of Reach uh when it comes to immigration I don't know maybe she's going to stand up there and say yeah I'm a prosecutor I'm going to prosecute these people now that she's making this heel turn uh to be a you know tough on crime uh person even though you know they ran on again Democrats really ran away from that issue for so long people are very concerned about crime in this country I don't I don't know that the bulk of it or the majority of it or even a disproportionate amount is even necessarily caused by immigrants but nobody likes the idea of a Venezuelan gang taking over I mean this that sounds like Breaking Bad or something right um that's what it van out there you know yeah that's that's no good and we need uh we need police to make arrests and then we need people to be prosecuted and where appropriate deported for criminal activity yes Deport them and or or or in such a fashion that they can't come back to the country that sounds like executing them or something but or in prison or whatever is supposed to happen I don't know but that they don't just come right back in or that they get released onto the streets why do we have people when we when when there are violent crimes being committed in this country and we find time and time again that they've been released you know over and over and keep Crossing theorder and there's many stories about that certainly yeah and I'm all for you know I'm I'm all for due process and Criminal Justice Reform and I think we have too many people in our prisons who are not a violent threat who are if you know if it's for drug offenses or it's or you've just aged out you know people who commit crimes as teenagers and they've been in there their whole lives and they're no longer a threat to anyone it's going to be difficult to rehabilitate them that's a different a different task but you know the the the demographic of people who cre who commit violent crime is like all males between the ages of 15 and I I don't know what it is on the other end yeah and M you know making sure we have people engaged in socially borderline dangerous activity dealt with is the whole project of government and of civilized society and it's not happening it feels like it's not happening well again and I do think there is somewhat of a disconnect now crime statistics there there's always a lag right and and I don't think the FBI does a a very good job on that front in terms of actually tracking in real time where things are but there is somewhat of a disconnect in terms of the statistics I think Democrats often get lost in the statistics we love to say crime is down you know 12% violent crime is down 5% in each of these cities but if people to your point Robbie fundamentally don't feel safe right they're going to vote on those issues and especially in suburbs which are going to be key in these seven Battleground States right Aurora is the suburb of Denver now there is really isn't you I think Colorado is likely Out Of Reach for the Republicans this cycle but it was once a purple state but it certainly plays in the suburbs of Atlanta certainly plays in the suburbs of Philadelphia certainly plays in the suburbs of Milwaukee and we'll see if that translates for Republicans I expect that will come up at the debate more Rising right after this [Music]