Trump vows “major deportations” in Aurora during Friday press conference

DENVER — During a news conference in California on Friday, former President Donald Trump — for the second time this week — specifically addressed Aurora and vowed to carry out “massive deportations” of immigrants.

Trump’s comments followed Tuesday’s debate, in which he cited Venezuelan gang activity in Aurora and claimed “they’re taking over cities.” Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, refuted those claims to Denver7 on Wednesday.

“There’s definitely been some issues, but it’s been so dramatically exaggerated that the whole city is overrun with criminal or gang activity,” Coffman told Denver7. “That couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Trump also attacked Colorado Gov. Jared Polis during Friday’s press conference.

“Look at what’s happening in Colorado. The governor won’t even talk about it, the governor, he’s a Democrat,” Trump said. “Colorado, I hope you vote for Trump, because you’re getting trampled by your own politicians.”

Jae C. Hong/AP

Denver7 has reached out to the governor’s office for comment and will update this story with Polis’ comments when they are received.

“The governor can’t talk about it because he can’t go against the policies of these lunatics who want all these people to come into our country without knowing who they are,” Trump continued. “We don’t even know where they come from.”

The former president then promised “the largest deportation in the history of our country — and we’re going to start with Springfield (Ohio) and Aurora.”

During Friday’s press conference, Trump was asked by right-wing media if he would “use an event there to show the media what’s really happening — maybe a town hall?” He responded, “No, I will — maybe Springfield, maybe Aurora, maybe both. We’ll go there.”

Denver7 has reported extensively on the situation in Aurora, including alleged TdA activity, and has spoken to residents of the troubled apartment complexes that have been hit hardest by gang activity.

Aurora police have identified at least 10 documented members of TdA and arrested 9 of them. The arrests stem from several incidents over the past 10 months. You can read more about these arrests at the bottom of this page.

At least six incidents linked to these suspects occurred at two apartment buildings: the Whispering Pines and Fitzsimons Place apartment complexes, both owned by an out-of-state landlord, CBZ Management.

Fitzsimons Place was closed last month due to code violations, with the landlord blaming Venezuelan gang activity for poor living conditions, while residents alleged years of neglect.

The claims that TdA has taken over apartment complexes in Aurora are unsubstantiated. Despite documented TdA gang activity, Denver7 obtained police data from the APD showing that crime in seven major crime categories is down 17 percent year-over-year.

While Aurora’s murder rate is the same as last year, reported sexual assaults are down 17% this year.

Robberies are down 11%, with commercial robberies down 32% so far in 2024. Burglaries in Aurora are also down 25% compared to 2023.

Aurora police report a subcategory of aggravated assaults involving gang activity, which is up 33% from 2023.

While the number of attacks involving gang activity has increased compared to last year, the five-year average shows that the number of serious attacks involving gang activity in Aurora has decreased significantly from 513 to 221 reported so far in 2024.

David Zalubowski/AP

Denver7 analyzed Aurora’s latest crime statistics in this story.

And while Coffman previously suggested that gang members had taken control of apartment complexes in Aurora, he walked back those comments in an interview with Denver7 this month. “I thought the people who were the so-called gang members were collecting rent from them, but the people who came to me said that wasn’t the case,” he said. “They wanted to stay there, but they wanted the place to be maintained.”

Denver7 asked Coffman if he confirmed that TdA activity was taking place near the apartment complexes.

“I think there’s a lot of divisiveness in this. Frankly, that part of it is not relevant to me,” Coffman said. “Now the DEA has confirmed to me that there are elements of Tren de Aragua involved in the distribution of fentanyl in and around this area, which is very concerning to me.”

David Zalubowski/AP

Coffman’s goal is to eradicate organized crime from the city.

“I think the perception nationally, given the debate (Tuesday) night, is that the buildings are still under (gang) control and the city is under gang control, and neither of those things are true,” Coffman said Wednesday. “The overreaction has created a hysteria in terms of what’s true, what’s not true. I think it’s important to set the record straight.”