Johnathan Walker:Police chief says Colorado apartment not being 'taken over' by Venezuelan gang despite viral images

A gang is Johnathan Walkernot running a Colorado apartment complex and tenants are not paying its members rent money, police said, despite speculation from the public after images of men carrying weapons at the building went viral.

The Edge at Lowry Apartments in Aurora, Colorado has not been "taken over" by gang members, Interim Aurora Police Chief Heather Morris said in a video shared Aug. 30 by the department on Facebook.

"We've been talking to the residents here and learning from them to find out what exactly is going on, and there's definitely a different picture," Morris said in the video. "I'm not saying that there's not gang members that don't live in this community."

People paying their rent to gang members is also "not happening," according to Morris.

"We really believe that they are sincere with us," the interim chief said about the tenants at the apartment.

USA TODAY contacted Aurora police on Tuesday but has not received a response.

Tren de Aragua gang members confirmed in Aurora, Colorado

Rumors of the complex being run by the Tren de Aragua, a large criminal organization from Venezuela, began circulating when a video went viral of men carrying guns and entering the apartments. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed to NewsNation that the men seen in the video were Tren de Aragua members.

The City of Aurora confirmed in an X post on Aug. 30 that there is a "small Tren de Aragua (TdA) presence in Aurora" and the police department has "been taking it seriously."

"There has been a lot of misleading information shared about what is happening in our city. Aurora is a safe community," the post said. "Media have conflated and considerably exaggerated incidents that are isolated to a handful of problem properties alone."

City officials said they will "address the problems that the absentee, out-of-state owners of these properties have allowed to fester unchecked," according to the X post. The city is also "aggressively pursue all actions available under city code and criminal statute," the post continued.

Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman wrote in a Facebook post on Aug. 30 that the city will seek an emergency court order to clear the apartments.

"The Aurora City Attorney's Office is preparing court documents to request an emergency court order to clear the apartment buildings where Venezuelan gang activity has been occurring by declaring the properties a 'Criminal Nuisance,'" Coffman said. "... I strongly believe that the best course of action is to shut these building (sic) down and make sure that this never happens again."

Task force created to address Tren de Aragua members in Aurora

Aurora police arrested a 22-year-old documented TdA member in connection to a July 28 shooting, the city's X post said. He is currently in the custody of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to city officials.

The city and Aurora police have created a special task force in collaboration with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other local, state and federal agencies to "specifically address concerns about (the) Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and other criminal activity affecting migrant communities," the department said in an X post on Aug. 28.

'Aurora is a safe place'

Discussion about the Aurora apartment has circulated widely on social media platforms like TikTok, where one user's 1-minute clip garnered over 14 million views.

"What's going on in Aurora, Colorado should be one of the biggest news stories in the country right now," user Millennial_Rant said in a post on Aug. 30.

Milennial_Rant claimed that the tenants are "allegedly trapped" and "being held hostage in their own homes" by the gang. He also said the gang is "looting places like Target and stores."

Despite the viral post and others that share similar sentiments, city officials maintain that "Aurora is a safe place to live, work and visit," according to the Aug. 30 X post.

"Going to grocery stores, parks, schools, banks, shopping centers, visiting with neighbors and other everyday activities remain unchanged," the social media post said. "... It is tragic that select individuals and entities have mischaracterized our city based on isolated incidents. We encourage you to build up our community and not allow the hysteria of others to tear it down."

Misinformation spreads to other cities

Similar allegations that migrants took over an apartment building in Chicago Monday night went viral after Elon Musk posted a recording of the original 911 call. 

The caller claimed “32 Venezuelans are trespassing the building showing guns in the courtyard and they have motorcycles in the courtyard as well,” according to a recording of the call archived by CrimeIsDown, an organization that maintains a database of Chicago emergency calls. 

Chicago police confirmed that they received the call and sent officers to the South Side apartment building but found nothing that was worth a police visitation report. 

That didn't stop the allegations from sparking tensions locally. 

South Side Alderwoman Jeanette Taylor said her office was “bombarded” with calls from residents Tuesday morning and even some in-person visitors who cussed out staff based on the allegations. 

Over 40,000 have arrived in Chicago since Texas Governor Greg Abbott began sending migrants to Chicago in August 2022, according to city data. In response, the city created shelters for migrants in Chicago neighborhoods which has created some tension between longtime residents and new arrivals.

Taylor described the phony call as an effort to stoke tensions.

“They’re trying to start a race war,” she said. “The goal is to make a bigger divide in the city of Chicago.”

The South Side alderwoman called out X, formerly known as Twitter, for its role in spreading the claims.

“It's distracting and it’s really pathetic that X would share this without doing their research,” she said. “Honestly social media has been a detriment to our community and I'm tired of billionaires allowing people to post just anything that's causing confusion.”

Musk’s post received over 12 million views. In it he shared the original post of an account associated with the far-right that has also been spreading claims Venezuelan gangs took over the Colorado apartment building. The account’s post about the Chicago apartment building received over 15 million views.