Migrant gang crisis underrated: Denver media criticized

The flag of Venezuela.Photo byaboodi vesakaranonUnsplash

Angry Aurorans and Denverites on social media poked fun at the news media Friday as more information came out about Venezuelan gangs on the Front Range.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman posted on Facebook that the city will use court orders to shut down additional apartment complexes that have been infiltrated by the gangs. It seemed to contradict comments made by Gov. Jared Polis, who said the gang problem was a figment of Aurora council member Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination.

Jurinsky, who frequently is attacked for her blunt style, has said all along that the gang poses a threat to Aurora and the mass gathering of migrants last month included them. But Aurora police came out the very next day saying reports of the gang on social media had been exaggerated.

Kyle Clark as Dorothy

KUSA 9 News journalist Kyle Clark had both the mayors of Denver and Aurora on his show Thursday to talk about how the entire gang story has been blown out of proportion. The mayors said some residents have become hysterical and are flooding 911 call centers with illegitimate concerns. Jurinsky says the gangs have taken over apartment buildings in Denver, too, but Denver police say they have no proof of that.

On X Friday, a user named Cerebral Pisces, who describes themselves as a musician and artist, posted a photoshopped picture of Clark and Polis as Dorothy and Glenda the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz. Polis, as “Glenda,” is instructing “journo” to tap his slippers together and say, “There is no crime in Denver, there is no crime in Denver.”

Aurora mayor admits gang problem

Aurora plans to declare properties containing gang members a criminal nuisance, Coffman posted. “This will require a municipal judge to issue the order with the goal of getting these properties back under the control of the property owners,” the mayor wrote. “In the meantime, the law enforcement task force set up to disrupt and arrest Venezuelan gang members in these buildings will continue its operations.”

Coffman reported the problems associated with Venezuelan gang activity has been “isolated to properties that are all under the same out-of-state ownership whose problems with code violations and criminal activity preceded the migrant crisis,” adding “I strongly believe that the best course of action is to shut these building down and make sure that this never happens again.”

Coffman used a photo from a video that has gone viral of Venezuelan gang members with guns at an Aurora apartment building. The city shut down a building on Nome earlier this month.

Unlike the local news media, the national news media has produced several sensational stories about Aurora's gang problem. Some of them make it sound like the city is in chaos.

The facts show Aurora does have a Venezuelan gang problem. Angry people on social media accused the local news media of trying to cover it all up. Some are beginning to wonder.