AURORA, Colo. — Former President Donald Trump visited Colorado on Friday and continued to push misleading rhetoric and falsehoods about Aurora’s migrant population.
Trump painted a dark picture of the city, falsely claiming it had been overtaken by a Venezuelan prison gang and placed blame on Vice President Kamala Harris.
“My message today is very simple,” Trump said. “No person who has inflicted the violence and terror that Kamala Harris has inflicted on this community can ever be allowed to become the president of the United States. We’re not going to let it happen.”
Trump has ramped up his rhetoric on undocumented immigrants in recent weeks — referring to them as ‘violent criminals’.
“I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered,” Trump said. “These towns have been conquered. And we will put these vicious and bloodthirsty criminals in jail or kick them out of our country. And we will be very, very effective in doing it. It’s going to happen very, very fast.”
Back in August, a video of armed individuals roaming around an apartment complex in Aurora went viral and caught the attention of right-wing social media influencers. Trump shared the video as well but shared misleading information — claiming without evidence — members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang have “taken over” apartment complexes and “overrun” the city.
The Aurora Police Department has denounced Trump’s claims and Aurora’s Police Chief Todd Chamberlain called it “a crime issue”.
“We are not, by any means, overtaken by Venezuelan gangs,” he said. “It’s not overrun. Without question, Aurora is still a very safe city. It is still a wonderful community that is incredibly diverse.”
Mike Coffman, the Republican mayor of Aurora, called Trump’s comments “grossly exaggerated”.
“Former President Trump’s visit to Aurora is an opportunity to show him and the nation that Aurora is a considerably safe city – not a city overrun by Venezuelan gangs,” Coffman said.
In the past month, Trump’s comments about migrants have gotten more dangerous as he continues to push false narratives and stories, including amplifing debunked claims that Haitian migrants are eating pets in Springfield, Ohio.
On Friday, Trump called migrants “animals”, while suggesting he will deport them, if elected.
“We have to live with these animals. But we won’t live with them for long,” he said.
“Kill them!” shouted a man in the crowd.
Chamberlain issued his department’s support to keep this city safe and migrants safe as well.
“We are not in the business of deciding if you’re documented or undocumented. We’re in the business of making sure that if you commit crimes, we hold you accountable, or if you are victimized, we hold you near and we give you that support and those things that you need,” he said.
