Migrant mass gathering: Council trio scolds Aurora police

Photo byScott RodgersononUnsplash

Aurora, Colo. City Council member Steve Sundberg led a scolding of Aurora Police Thursday joined by his colleagues Danielle Jurinsky and Stephanie Hancock.

“I’m going rogue,” he said during the Safety Committee meeting.

“You’re taking my role,” remarked Jurinsky, chair of the committee. Jurinsky vowed earlier this week to confront police brass about the massive demonstration of migrants that took place in a Target parking lot last Sunday. The immigrants had come together to celebrate Venezuelan election results. Both candidates in the Venezuelan presidential election claimed victory.

Jurinsky expressed anger over how the Aurora Police Department handled the crowd. She said she now realizes that officers could have been killed had they tried to make any arrests. But she said the police department should have said that. She said police never should have released to the press that no arrests were made, especially without explaining why.

After Jurinsky unleashed an angry Facebook post on Monday, describing chaos and unlawful activity at the event, Aurora Police on Tuesday issued a statement on X which seemed to backpedal Jurinsky’s account.

Communication breakdown angers council members

Sundberg, who like Jurinsky is a business owner, told Chris Juul of Aurora police that the department should have called a press conference with council members and reassured residents. “I think we should tell it like it is,” Sundberg said, not “sugarcoat it.”

Sundberg, Jurinsky and Hancock all said they were overwhelmed with texts, emails and phone calls from residents wanting to know what was going on inside the parking lot of Gardens at Havana shopping center last Sunday. Sundberg said businesses had to close their doors during the mass gathering of about 4,000 people.

Hancock said police were grossly outnumbered. “Twenty officers to 4,000 people that’s ridiculous.”

Sundberg said police officers on the beat are afraid to speak on matters that could be considered political. Jurinsky said police have told her there are addresses in the city where no less than six officers at a time may respond, per department policy.

Jurinsky said she believes a mass demonstration could happen again. “We think this was a test and they potentially got away with it.”

Aurora Police acknowledge the “influence” of a Venezuelan gang in the city. Juul said they are quickly gaining intelligence on the migrants by monitoring social media. He said the department developed a task force three weeks ago to monitor the gang.

Council members don’t buy ‘sugarcoated’ story

The council trio said they do not believe the police department’s toned-down account of the event. They said the city has a serious Venezuelan gang problem and they have taken over multiple apartment buildings.

Sundberg said city officials must think about single mothers with daughters who live in those buildings. “What are they going through and how are people being extorted?”

Police and city officials have told residents of 1568 Nome St. that the building is being condemned and they must be out by next week. The landlord claims the building has become overrun by a Venezuelan gang, but Mayor Mike Coffman said that is not true.

"This building has been a problem for years and the city is taking the owners to court over persistent code violations," Coffman told the author of this article. "The owners are contending that they lost control of the building due to gang activity to dodge their responsibility and that is not accurate."

Coffman, who served 10 years in Congress and says he has had the therapy to prove it, explained issues at the border. He said people may enter illegally but can then ask for asylum, be allowed into the country, and get a court date for years out. He said Venezuela will not take back criminals nor share criminal records.

He also said that when it comes to things like transnational gang investigations, sometimes governments must keep certain information classified. He said it is important not to “underestimate” the gang threat but also important not to exaggerate it.