Aurora, Colorado — The city of Aurora is roughly the size of Tampa, Florida before the evacuation. Home to 400,000 people across 164 square miles, it is home to luxury subdivisions, working-class neighborhoods and luxury resorts where Donald Trump will hold a rally on Friday to highlight a city that has been turned into a “war zone” by immigrants. his campaign.
The reality is much different than what Trump showed to rally attendees. Like many other American cities, Aurora’s crime rate is actually decreasing.
The problem in suburban Denver that drew Trump’s attention occurred last August on a block in Denver, in an apartment complex housing Venezuelan immigrants.
That’s when video surfaced showing heavily armed men going door-to-door at the complex, with New York-based owners claiming Venezuelan gangs were extorting rent from tenants. Police said someone outside the complex was shot and killed around the time the video was recorded.
Now, two months later, authorities say they have identified six men in the video and arrested one. Tenants of the building said police carry out regular checks and the area is safe.
“They left and it was nice and quiet,” Edward Ramirez, 38, one of the gunmen, said this week. He was one of more than a dozen tenants interviewed who said the threats had subsided. “It’s quiet. I can work. It’s normal.”
Crime rates in Aurora have been trending downward nationwide, coinciding with an influx of Venezuelans fleeing their homeland flocking to Colorado and other cities across the country.
Studies have shown that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. But Aurora is also an example of how Trump was able to use real but isolated incidents of migrant violence against entire populations. He uses these examples to paint a picture of a country in turmoil due to what he regularly calls an “invasion” of immigrants.
“Do you know what they’re doing in Colorado? “They are taking over,” Trump, who has often warned of “immigrant crime,” said of Venezuelan gang members at a rally in Redding, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. “They’re taking over real estate. They become real estate developers in Venezuela. “They have equipment that our military doesn’t have.”
Trump’s sweeping claims about Aurora (his campaign called the city a “war zone” and linked to an article in the conservative New York Post that used the word) drew sharp rebukes from local residents.
Mayor Mike Coffman said, “Former President Trump’s visit to Aurora is an opportunity to show him and the public that Aurora is a fairly safe city and not a city controlled by Venezuelan gangs.” , said in a statement: “The reality is that concerns about gang activity in Venezuela have been greatly exaggerated.”
Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, noted that Aurora has long fought to shake its reputation as Colorado’s toughest big city. It is the third most populous state in the state and has long lived in the shadow of neighboring Denver. One-fifth of Aurora’s residents were born in another country.
“It’s a safer city than it was before,” Polis said in an interview. “Things are going really well,” Polis added. “And I don’t want these bizarre counterarguments to come out.”
When asked how it could justify sweeping claims of safety as crime declines in Aurora, the Trump campaign responded with a statement from the Republican National Committee: status,” said spokeswoman Anna Kelly. “The Aurora apartment complex is a war zone, fentanyl is flooding the community, and immigrant criminals are raping and murdering their victims.”
The Trump rally is scheduled to be held at the Gaylord Rockies Resort. & The convention center is approximately 16 km from the apartment complex. There is no indication in his daily schedule that he has any plans to visit the neighborhood.
Trump’s characterization of the city and the backlash from officials and residents are reminiscent of the lies he and his running mate J.D. Vance spread about Haitian immigrants stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. These repeated lies led to multiple bomb threats against schools, government buildings and the homes of city officials, forced evacuations and lockdowns, and led the city to cancel annual events celebrating diversity, arts and culture.
Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said at a press conference last month that Aurora saw a “slight” increase in crime in September 2023, coinciding with the arrival of large numbers of Venezuelans in the city. However, the increase has since declined. Major crimes (ranging from murders to vehicle thefts) in the city last month were down 12% last month compared to September 2023, according to Aurora police data.
Migrants began arriving in Denver in late 2022, which was the peak of a steady increase in crime in the state since the pandemic, according to Colorado crime statistics. In 2023, crime fell across the state when Venezuelans disappointed many Colorado voters by selling flowers or doing quick windshield washes on some Denver streets.
Aurora City Council passed a resolution opposing immigrants settling in the city, but nonprofit groups found landlords willing to house some. Others moved independently to take advantage of cheaper rents.
Thousands of people gathered at an Aurora shopping center to celebrate Venezuela’s election in July, and police reported shootings aimed at celebrating President Nicolas Maduro’s defeat.
On the campaign trail, Trump routinely cites specific examples of immigrants committing crimes, often grim examples such as that of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old Georgia woman who was killed while running in February. A Venezuelan citizen who entered the country illegally in 2022 has been charged with murder and other crimes related to murder.
Trump claimed Venezuela and other countries were emptying prisons, mental hospitals and “insane asylums” to send dangerous people to the United States, and claimed that Venezuela’s notoriously violent capital Caracas was safer than many American cities. The latter claim has stoked mistrust among Venezuelan migrants who feel much safer in Aurora.
“This is a thousand times better than Venezuela,” said Dexe Medina, 44, as he left his Aurora apartment complex.
The building has many broken windows, hallway lights don’t work, and trash and discarded mattresses are pouring out of a dumpster in the back.
One of the reasons the August broadcast attracted attention is the rundown situation. Aurora has closed one of three apartment buildings owned by CBZ Management due to unsanitary conditions. Aurora said conditions in the complex had been bad for a long time before the Venezuelans arrived. But CBZ countered that it could not provide maintenance because the building was occupied by the notorious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
The two buildings that are still open are currently in maintenance and residents say they hope new management will eventually restore regular maintenance. Medina said the situation has improved slightly. He said previously there was a “tower” filled with rubble and trash in the courtyard between the three-story buildings.
The neighborhood where many Venezuelans have settled has long been one of Aurora’s toughest neighborhoods, close to Colfax Boulevard. This road, sometimes billed as the longest street in America, runs from Aurora west through neighboring Denver to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. . On the opposite corner of the apartment complex, a camera is installed on top of the daycare fence, and a recorded voice warns visitors: “You are under video surveillance.”
Longtime residents say they’ve heard gunshots intermittently for years, but things seem relatively calm now.
“Honestly, this has improved a lot,” said Diego Garcia, 18, a high school student who lives a block away from the complex where the video was filmed. “It used to be a lot worse.”
Residents say they feel safe, but admit the days in August were terrifying when armed men roamed the neighborhood. Richard Rodriguez, 48, received a call from his mother in Venezuela and panicked for his safety after the video aired.
“Remember the fear it instilled in people’s hearts,” Rodriguez said of the video. “Imagine what it would be like for us to live here.”
Aurora City Councilman Dustin Zvonek also received concerned calls and texts asking if he was safe after the video was released.
“I’m like, ‘Hey, I live 40 minutes away,’” Zvonek said.
Nonetheless, he said the situation was serious and problems remained. For many Venezuelans awaiting asylum hearings, it can take months to receive work permits, leaving them hopeless in a new country with few connections.
“We’re putting them in a terrible situation and it’s impacting their businesses,” he said, adding that a nearby Walmart and Walgreens had recently closed due to theft concerns.
Zvonek, a Republican, emphasized that Aurora remains a safe city with declining crime rates, but warned against minimizing certain issues, such as apartment complexes. He noted that despite the overall decline in crime rates, the building’s residents and immediate neighbors have not felt reassured.
“It’s not always a big deal until it happens to you,” Zvonek said.
