Former President Donald Trump has "grossly exaggerated" matters in Aurora, Colorado, with his outcry about Venezuelan gang activity in the city, Republican Mayor Mike Coffman said Saturday.
"The reality is that the concerns about Venezuelan gang activity in our city-and our state-have been grossly exaggerated and have unfairly hurt the city's identity and sense of safety," Coffman said in a statement to Newsweek.
During a rally Friday in Aurora, located near Denver, Trump repeated claims that the migrants have "invaded and conquered" the city and accused his Democrat rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, of letting the city's buildings be "infested" by gang members, calling them "animals and barbaric thugs."
He also unveiled a plan he's calling "Operation Aurora" and promised that if he's elected, "we will send elite squads of ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement], Border Patrol, and federal law enforcement officers to hunt down and arrest and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country. And if they come back into our country, they will be told it is an automatic 10-year sentence in jail with no possibility of parole. And I'm hereby calling for the death penalty for any migrant that kills an American citizen or a law enforcement officer."
In August, Aurora got national attention after an online video showed armed Venezuelan gang members searching through one of the city's apartment complexes.
Trump has used the video to add to claims that the White House's immigration policies and, by her connection, Harris, have allowed violent criminals to flood into the United States.
Coffman, though, said his city and Colorado "have not been 'taken over' or 'invaded' or 'occupied' by migrant gangs."
He added that any experiences have been limited to just a few apartment complexes and that the city police have "acted on those concerns."
Coffman also said that there were "thousands of people who attended" the former president's rally Friday and that they were able to see firsthand "the mischaracterizations of our great community."
"I am disappointed that the former president did not get to experience more of our city for himself," the mayor added.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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