Mayor of Aurora, Colorado says they will evacuate apartments infested 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 are limited to properties that are all owned by someone from outside the state, where the problems with code violations and criminal activity predate the migrant crisis,” Coffman said.

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

The video caught the attention of Elon Musk, who retweeted it on X with a one-word description: “Insane.”

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

Coffman said in an interview with KUSA that the response to the video has been “overwhelming” for the city’s 911 response and that “we’re kind of in a hysterical place right now.” Coffman said the gang activity was “isolated.”

Aurora City Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky stated on her Facebook account on August 28, “And I repeat… A GANG HAS TAKEN OVER ENTIRE apartment complexes in Aurora.”

Aurora police said its officers are proactively patrolling areas where gang activity is suspected. Police posted videos on X of officers walking around apartment complexes. Police have also created a multi-agency task force to target the Venezuelan gang.

Aurora Interim Police Chief Heather Morris said police have spoken with residents of the affected apartment complex.

“There’s definitely a different picture,” Morris said in a video posted by police on X. “I’m not saying there aren’t gang members that don’t live in this community. What we’re learning here is that gang members have not taken over this complex. … We make sure people don’t pay rent to gang leaders or gang members and that doesn’t happen. … That’s not the case.”

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

“Well, I’m not sure who runs it then. You have the same police report as I do… remember when the staff was beaten up and had guns held to their heads by the ‘cookie monster’ and crew? They were told never to come back, and they never did,” Jurinsky wrote on X.

The “cookie monster” turned out to be a reference to Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, a member of the Tren de Aragua gang.

On August 30, Aurora police posted a photo of Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, identifying him as a member of Tren de Aragua who had been arrested in connection with a July 28 shooting. Police said Pacheco-Chirino is also known as “Cookie” or “Galleta,” which is Spanish for cookie.

Police said Pacheco-Cirino was arrested in March 2024 for aggravated assault and was released on bail. On July 28, he was arrested in connection with a shooting in which two victims were shot.

According to police, Pacheco-Chirino has been in ICE custody since July 28.

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“In the coming days we will publish a more comprehensive, public update with additional, accurate information about this criminal group and its partners,” police said.

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