Federal law enforcement and immigration officials with the Biden-Harris government—along with state and local officials in Colorado—knew the violent Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA), intended to make Denver its headquarters in the United States in November of 2023. According to government emails obtained by Aurora, Colorado, city council member Danielle Jurinsky, the city’s police department received intelligence from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) regarding the gang’s presence and intentions in their city and nearby Denver.
“Here is the Tren De Aragua bulletin I plan on sending out department wide tomorrow. I added the intel from HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] that Sgt Bungartz received today,” wrote Aurora police officer Matthew Walters on November 16, 2023, in an email to Commander Chris Poppe. Walters continued: “I also spoke with an ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] agent today who reached out to his intel guy, the guy got back rather quickly, and stated TdA has decided to make Denver their headquarters due to sanctuary policies and location.”
Around an hour after Walters sent the email, Commander Poppe responded, acknowledging the notice looked good: “Is there any Aurora-centric info that could be included in the bulletin? Known addresses, or hangouts, or specifics cops should be aware of?”
11/16/2023 Subject line: Tren de Aragua
ICE notifies the @AuroraPD that "TdA has decided to make Denver their headquarters due to sanctuary policies and location." (Thank you @GovofCO) Did anyone reach out to the state? Did the Denver Mayor know this? Did Commander Chris Poppe… pic.twitter.com/Zc3ROB4zVz— Danielle Jurinsky (@DaniJurinsky) October 24, 2024
COLORADO COVER UP?
Jurinsky contends the email raises serious questions, such as whether the state officials in Colorado knew or were made aware of TdA’s intention to coordinate its criminal activities out of Denver. She also presses whether the mayor of Denver was aware of the gang’s intentions.
After video of alleged TdA members taking over an Aurora, Colorado, apartment complex surfaced earlier this year, Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) and other state and local officials sought to downplay the gang’s presence in the state. However, the Aurora police emails obtained by Jurinsky suggest that law enforcement was aware of and seriously concerned about TdA’s activities for at least a year.