Aurora police watching locally after call for global protests over Venezuelan election

AURORA | Aurora police will boost its patrol staff Saturday in case of an anticipated protest in the region about Venezuela’s undecided presidential election. 

The city’s heightened alert comes after 3,000 to 4,000 Venezuelan migrants and their sympathizers met up in the parking lot of the Gardens on Havana shopping center on July 28 to await election results. Most in the crowd expected the ouster of incumbent strongman Nicolás Maduro, who later declared himself the winner of another six-year term.

Aurora police acknowledge they were not prepared for the convergence of so many people crammed at the southern end of the strip center in front of the Target store where witnesses reported shots fired into the air. Traffic was snarled because of all the parked cars. Some stores, whose customers said they were rattled by the noise of Venezuelans honking horns and banging on pots, chose to close early. The lot was strewn with beer bottles and trash.

Police say no injuries were reported, no arrests were made and nobody was ticketed or summoned.

Still, some anti-immigrant members of the community seized the opportunity to post on social media that the gathering was a riot and that it was organized by the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua (TDA). 

Police disputed those claims. They also debunked a Facebook post by Aurora Councilmember Danielle Jurinsky that “Thousands of these folks took over and completely shut down a part of our city. The police were totally overrun, and were forced to get out of the area for their safety.”

City officials have repeatedly disputed that account.

“Police did not leave, and were there for the entire event,” Aurora spokesperson Ryan Luby said in a statement.

Meanwhile, in Venezuela, Maduro’s claim to victory over opposition candidate Edmundo González remains contested, and his government has arrested thousands of protestors and otherwise cracked down on dissent.

Several Latin American countries, as well as the United States and European Union have held off on recognizing election results and demanded detailed data from Venezuelan polling stations to analyze the outcome.

By Thursday afternoon, leaders of Brazil and Colombia were calling for a new election with safeguards against ballot tampering and miscounts. In Washington, U.S. President Joe Biden expressed support for new elections in comments to reporters that the White House later appeared to back away from.

Another convergence of Venezuelans is expected this Saturday now that opposition leader María Corina Machado has called for her supporters to “take to the streets” worldwide to rally in support of her party’s claim that González beat Maduro in a landslide.

“Let’s shout together for the world to support our victory and recognize truth and popular sovereignty,” she has said.

Venezuelans are still weighing where to gather Saturday in metro Denver, which has seen an influx of about 40,000 migrants in the last few years.

Some solo and others with young children have wound their way to North American and Colorado to flee poverty and violence back home. Most don’t have immigration papers, and several have told the Sentinel they’re torn between a desire to rally against what they see as a tyrant’s stolen election and their fear of being arrested here for protesting, then deported at a time of extreme upheaval back home.

Aurora’s Global Fest, the city’s biggest annual festival, will take place this weekend on the Aurora Municipal Center’s Great Lawn, the site of many political demonstrations in the last several years.

The city’s police posted on social media earlier this week that it is “actively monitoring the situation due to recent events” and “will provide communication and updates to our community if we learn of any large gatherings planned for or taking place in Aurora.”

Chris Juul, Aurora’s acting deputy police chief, said the city government “recognizes and  appreciates everybody’s First Amendment right to have their voices heard, but just wants to make it clear that we will not tolerate any criminal activity.”

“Had we known what would happen in advance, we would have had some additional preparations,” he said about the July 28 gathering, noting his department’s intention to keep any crowd that might convene in Aurora this Saturday safe, along with local business owners, police officers and the general public.

Juul characterized the July 28th meetup as a “spontaneous gathering” rather than a riot or gang-organized flash mob. Still, he acknowledged that the “large population of migrants” to Aurora has come with some “criminal influence” and “organized crime.” 

He said his department identified some gang members in an apartment complex at 1568 Nome St. that was shuttered by city officials on Tuesday, forcing more than 100 families —  including many recent Venezuelan migrants — to take shelter in hotels. He would not indicate which gang those members belong to and said he “can’t specify whether or not we’ve had arrests” of Venezuelan gang members.

“I don’t think Venezuelan gangs are a big safety concern in the city of Aurora,” he said.

Immigrant rights groups have told the Sentinel they’re closely monitoring police handling of migrants from Venezuela in a city whose police department has for years been criticized and investigated for excessive force and racial profiling.

Those groups had varied reactions to the election-night gathering on July 28. One, SOS Venezuela Denver, condemned the gunshots, noise and rowdiness as disrespecting a city it said has warmly welcomed migrants. The Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition defended the gathering as peaceful and underscored Venezuelans’ right to assemble in July and moving forward.