Aurora, Colorado mayor says they will clear apartments troubled by Venezuelan gangs

(The Center Square) - The mayor of Aurora, Colorado, said the city is going to get an emergency court order to clear apartments that have been targeted by Venezuelan gangs.

Mayor Mike Coffman posted his comments on his Facebook account Friday evening.

Coffman said the city will declare the apartments a "public nuisance."

"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," Coffman said.

The issue made international news after a video posted on X showed armed men walking around an Aurora apartment complex. That video was posted Aug. 28 and has been viewed 5.7 million times.

The video caught the attention of Elon Musk, who re- tweeted it on X with a one-word description: "Insane."

Coffman said in an interview with KUSA that the police have not yet identified the people in the viral video as being members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang.

Coffman said in an interview with KUSA that the reaction to the video was "overwhelming" the city's 911 dispatch and "we're in some sort of environment of hysteria right now." Coffman said gang activity was "isolated."

Aurora City Council Member Danielle Jurinsky stated on her Facebook account on Aug. 28: "And I repeat... A GANG HAS TAKE OVER entire apartment complexes in Aurora."

The Aurora Police Department stated that its officers have been proactively patrolling areas where there is suspected gang activity. The police department posted video on X of officers walking around apartment complexes. The police department has also created a multi-agency task force to deal with the Venezuelan gang.

Aurora Interim Police Chief Heather Morris said police have talked to residents of the impacted apartment complex.

"There's definitely a different picture," Morris said in a video the police posted on X. "I'm not saying that there's not gang members that don't live in this community. What we are learning out here is that gang members have not taken over this complex. ... We are making sure that people aren't paying rent to gang leaders or gang members and that is not happening. ... That's not the case."

Jurinsky responded to the police video with a comment on X.

"Well, I'm not sure who's running it then. You have the same police report I do ... remember when the staff was beaten up and guns held to their heads by the 'cookie monster' and crew? They were told never to return, and they haven't," Jurinsky wrote on X.

The "cookie monster" appeared to be a reference to Tren de Aragua gang member Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino.

On Aug. 30, the Aurora Police Department posted a mugshot of Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino and identified him as a member of Tren de Aragua that was arrested in connection with a July 28 shooting. Police said Pacheco-Chirino is also known as "Cookie" or "Galleta," which is Spanish for cookie.

The police said Pacheco-Cirino had been arrested in March 2024 for an aggravated assault and was bonded out. Then on July 28, he was arrested in connection with a shooting in which there were two gunshot victims.

Pacheco-Chirino has been in custody of ICE since July 28, police said.

"In the coming days, we will provide a more comprehensive, public update with additional, accurate information about this criminal group and its affiliates," police stated.

In July, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control called Tren de Aragua an "escalating threat" to Americans. The Treasury Department said the gang is expanding throughout the Western Hemisphere and activities include human smuggling and trafficking, gender-based violence, money laundering, and illicit drug trafficking.