Gov. Jared Polis’ office has referred an Aurora city councilwoman’s comments to law enforcement after she used a public meeting this week to claim that she had “video evidence” of a crime that has “haunted” her to her core about Venezuelan gang activity in Aurora.
“I’m asking you governor to put politics aside. I’m asking you to call me, to call me and to see the videos that I’m in possession of because we need leadership, Jared,” said councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky, a Republican, at a Monday night city council meeting in Aurora.
“If you do not call me, the videos will come out,” she said, before cutting off her microphone.
Polis’ office said Tuesday they have reported the remarks to state law enforcement and the Aurora Police Department.
“If the city council member is holding on to evidence of a crime, she should reach out to law enforcement immediately. The governor’s office takes any potential for evidence of a crime very seriously and alerted state law enforcement of the council woman’s comments about potential video evidence, and they have been in touch with the Aurora Police Department,” said Polis spokeswoman Shelby Wieman.
Aurora City Council just approved a Jurinsky-led push to investigate whether Polis and Johnston are 'sneaking' in new immigrants
Jurinsky made the comments during a Monday city council meeting in which she successfully got a measure passed to determine whether the governor and the Denver mayor are “sneaking” new immigrants into Aurora.
The council voted 6-2 to use city attorney powers to probe emails at the offices of the governor and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston to see whether the state and the city were moving new immigrants to Aurora covertly.
Jurinsky’s measure directs the Aurora City Attorney’s office to submit open records requests to Polis, Johnston and their corresponding offices charged with dealing with the influx of new immigrants who have landed in the metro area in the past year and a half.
Jurinsky, who didn’t grant interviews Tuesday, said through a city spokesman that the open records requests could help unveil a conspiracy to relocate immigrants from Denver to Aurora.
“I believe that Gov. Polis and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston conspired to sneak potentially thousands of migrants into our city, using several nonprofits in the metro, that ultimately put the safety of our citizens at risk,” Jurinsky said, in an emailed statement from a city spokesman. “I think that it’s incredibly insulting to think that Polis and Johnston could covertly push migrants into our city without even having the courtesy to warn us about what they were doing.”
Aurora has been in the national spotlight over claims of immigrant crimes
The Denver mayor’s office estimates more than 42,000 people have arrived in the city since January 2023. About half of those people have stayed, officials estimate.
City officials say they’ve spent about $76 million to find housing and support for them.
In the past couple of months, Aurora has weathered a mostly unwelcome national spotlight thanks to GOP presidential candidate former President Donald Trump who has touted it as a symbol of a city run amok in crime and overrun by immigrants mostly from South America.
- Explainer: Everyone’s talking about a Venezuelan gang in Aurora. Here’s what we know — and what we don’t
Trump held a rally last week in Aurora, where he talked for more than an hour, mostly about migrants moving into the Denver suburb and the state’s second-largest city.
His allegations are sharply disputed by Aurora’s Republican Mayor Mike Coffman, several city and municipal leaders and the city’s new police chief Todd Chamberlain.
“Aurora is a safe place to live, work and visit,” the city said in a statement released ahead of Trump’s visit. “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.”
In September, APD announced it had arrested 10 people linked to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua on various criminal charges, ranging from kidnapping to felony menacing to gun crimes and attempted murder.
“This is not an immigration issue. This is a crime issue,” APD Chief Chamberlain said in a press conference last month. “Our focus is ensuring that we have a safe community where everybody, documented or undocumented can live and be safe.”
Jurinsky spoke at Trump's rally, as Denver defended its immigration policies
Councilwoman Jurinsky is one elected official, though, who believes there is a bigger problem.
She shared a stage with Trump last week.
“Make no mistake of it, these mugshots you see, this is not a feature of my imagination,” Jurinsky jubilantly told the crowd in a hoarse voice, ahead of Trump’s speech. She was flanked by blown-up mugshots of some of the 10 gang members arrested in September. “Denver had better start to keep to themselves. The time of Denver controlling the entire state, these days are over. They are over!”
Jon Ewing, a Johnston spokesman, said Denver has tried to be a national model to treat new immigrants with respect to find stability.
“Denver took what many saw as a crisis and turned it into opportunity by partnering with nonprofits to help thousands of newcomers find stability, contribute to our economy and have the opportunity to chase the American dream,” he said. “We stand proudly with our immigrant community and with our nonprofit partners, whose dedication and life-saving work should be applauded, not demonized.”
