Lauren Boebert’s Attempt to Mimic Trump’s Gang Claims Backfires
Representative Lauren Boebert struggled to back up her extreme allegations about a Venezuelan gang’s alleged takeover of an apartment building in her home state of Colorado. Last week, right-wing media and former President Donald Trump elevated claims that Tren de Aguas, a Venezuelan gang, had taken over The Edge, a residential building in Aurora, Colorado. After following up on the rumors, the Aurora Police Department determined that a gang had not taken over the complex.At a press conference, Edge residents hit back at the right-wing claims and said that they were living in uninhabitable conditions as a result of neglect from CBZ Management, which was also responsible for another Aurora building where there was a mass eviction last month, according to Denver7. Boebert held a community roundtable last week with Texas Representative Chip Roy to discuss the presence of gangs in Aurora, Colorado. While Boebert does not represent any of the residents of Aurora, the far-right anti-immigrant Republican took a special interest in the suddenly high-profile issue. During the roundtable, Boebert discussed a recent report from Denver law firm Perkins Coie, which alleged that Tren de Aguas had a “stranglehold” on another apartment complex operated by CBZ Management, called Whispering Pines, five miles away from The Edge. According to CBS, the report was first sent to top Aurora administrators in early August. The report, which had been made on behalf of a lender, alleged that gang members at Whispering Pines had committed several crimes including “flagrant trespass violations, assaults and battery, human trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, unlawful firearms possession, extortion, and other criminal activities, often targeting vulnerable Venezuelan and other immigrant populations.”Boebert, Roy, and several other Republican lawmakers then sent a letter Friday to several U.S. officials, including Colorado Governor Jared Polis, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, insisting that they had “confirmed” the report’s many claims.However, as Kyle Clark of Next9 News pointed out, claims of sexual abuse of minors were seemingly new and unconnected to any recent arrests in the area. Clark explained that the report relied on a “third-hand anonymous claim” to make that allegation.When asked how she had possibly confirmed the sexual abuse of minors by gang members in Aurora, Boebert couldn’t provide a coherent answer.“This is a nonpartisan uh, law firm that has come out with this. This is information that is, is vetted. It is nonpartisan. And it is our most evident form of allegations that have been presented with ‘Tren de Aragua’ here in Aurora, Colorado,” Boebert said.Boebert then claimed that being asked about this at all was tantamount to a media cover-up.NEW: Rep Lauren Boebert (R-CO) says it's "confirmed" that a Venezuelan gang is involved in child sexual abuse in Aurora. That claim first surfaced two days ago as an anonymous, third-hand account. When we asked Boebert for her evidence, she alleged a media cover-up. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/SVl7IidIYo— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) September 7, 2024
Representative Lauren Boebert struggled to back up her extreme allegations about a Venezuelan gang’s alleged takeover of an apartment building in her home state of Colorado.
Last week, right-wing media and former President Donald Trump elevated claims that Tren de Aguas, a Venezuelan gang, had taken over The Edge, a residential building in Aurora, Colorado. After following up on the rumors, the Aurora Police Department determined that a gang had not taken over the complex.
At a press conference, Edge residents hit back at the right-wing claims and said that they were living in uninhabitable conditions as a result of neglect from CBZ Management, which was also responsible for another Aurora building where there was a mass eviction last month, according to Denver7.
Boebert held a community roundtable last week with Texas Representative Chip Roy to discuss the presence of gangs in Aurora, Colorado. While Boebert does not represent any of the residents of Aurora, the far-right anti-immigrant Republican took a special interest in the suddenly high-profile issue.
During the roundtable, Boebert discussed a recent report from Denver law firm Perkins Coie, which alleged that Tren de Aguas had a “stranglehold” on another apartment complex operated by CBZ Management, called Whispering Pines, five miles away from The Edge. According to CBS, the report was first sent to top Aurora administrators in early August.
The report, which had been made on behalf of a lender, alleged that gang members at Whispering Pines had committed several crimes including “flagrant trespass violations, assaults and battery, human trafficking and sexual abuse of minors, unlawful firearms possession, extortion, and other criminal activities, often targeting vulnerable Venezuelan and other immigrant populations.”
Boebert, Roy, and several other Republican lawmakers then sent a letter Friday to several U.S. officials, including Colorado Governor Jared Polis, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and FBI Director Christopher Wray, insisting that they had “confirmed” the report’s many claims.
However, as Kyle Clark of Next9 News pointed out, claims of sexual abuse of minors were seemingly new and unconnected to any recent arrests in the area. Clark explained that the report relied on a “third-hand anonymous claim” to make that allegation.
When asked how she had possibly confirmed the sexual abuse of minors by gang members in Aurora, Boebert couldn’t provide a coherent answer.
“This is a nonpartisan uh, law firm that has come out with this. This is information that is, is vetted. It is nonpartisan. And it is our most evident form of allegations that have been presented with ‘Tren de Aragua’ here in Aurora, Colorado,” Boebert said.
Boebert then claimed that being asked about this at all was tantamount to a media cover-up.
NEW: Rep Lauren Boebert (R-CO) says it's "confirmed" that a Venezuelan gang is involved in child sexual abuse in Aurora. That claim first surfaced two days ago as an anonymous, third-hand account. When we asked Boebert for her evidence, she alleged a media cover-up. #copolitics pic.twitter.com/SVl7IidIYo— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) September 7, 2024
