Harrowing new footage has captured the moment an alleged Venezuelan gang seized control of an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado.
In the video that emerged on Wednesday, gangsters carrying at least one high-powered rifle and multiple handguns raided the residential building.
A man in a dark hoodie lugs what appears to be a semi-assault rifle and pounds on the door. Another man casually holds a pistol by his waist. Then other members of the gang rush up the stairwell, bearing weapons. In the background, the men can be heard speaking in Spanish to one another.
While cops refused to say whether they belonged to the infamous Venezuelan Tren de Aragua cartel, Aurora City Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky alleged that Americans and other migrants living in the building were being extorted by a Venezuelan gang.
It comes as America is in the grips of a migrant crisis that border czar Kamala Harris has failed to combat, with the Tren de Aragua gang proliferating across the country, including in Colorado.
Harrowing new footage appears to capture the moment an armed Venezuelan gang seized control of an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado
At the end of the video, the door opens and the gangsters all walk into the apartment. At this point, it isn’t clear what their objective was.
The people who filmed the footage told Fox that it was recorded shortly before a shootout at the complex, which left one person grievously wounded.
In the exchange of gunfire, several vehicles also suffered damages.
The video was recorded at the apartment complex where Cindy and Edward Romero lived until Wednesday.
‘It’s been a nightmare, and I can’t wait to get out of here,’ Cindy Romero told Fox as she packed up her possessions.
In their apartment, the Romeros had an elaborate system of locks running from the top of the door to the bottom.
‘Every day when we come home, we have to do this every time we go outside to take out the garbage,’ Cindy Romero said, demonstrating how the locks worked.
‘Every time we go to bed at night. We have to keep like this so that nobody can kick in the door,’ she added.
Then other members of the gang rush up the stairwell, bearing weapons. In the background, the men can be heard speaking in Spanish to one anothe
After a shootout at the apartment complex earlier this month, the Romeros’ car was riddled with bullets.
Aurora City Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky assisted the couple in moving out and finding a new place to live.
‘The city nonprofits have line up to help the migrants that have come here but nobody is helping the Americans that are trapped in these apartment complexes,’ Jurinsky told Fox.
Referring to the spate of violent incidents at the apartment complex, the councilmember told rawalerts that it ‘all started with a gang takeover.’
Aurora has found itself at the center of a constant cycle of violence ever since the brutal Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, arrived.
While it’s unclear right now whether or not Tren de Aragua was involved in the recent violence at the apartment complex, the Aurora police department mentioned in a statement that they were investigating them after the video surfaced.
The authorities noted that they had launched a special task force ‘in collaboration with other local, state and federal partners to specifically address concerns about Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) and other criminal activity.’
The Aurora police department went on to recognize that they were ‘aware that components of TdA are operating in Aurora.’
They added that they have been ‘increasingly collecting evidence to show the gang is connected to crimes in the area.’
Incidents of migrant-related crime have caused the dismal situation at the border to fall under greater scrutiny.
Under Biden and Harris’ administration, illegal immigration into the US has ballooned into 8 million crossings- a number which is expected to rise to 10 million by the end of September.
In 2021, Harris, ‘the border czar’ was charged with stemming the flow of illegal immigration.