Colorado city council member fires back after governor's office dismisses armed gang takeover as 'imagination'
Democrat governor of Colorado Jared Polis dismissed outrage over a video showing what appears to be armed Venezuelan gang members in an apartment building as "imagination" despite significant evidence.
Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky fired back after the governor's denial, saying "I am so disappointed."
In a statement shared to the New York Post, Polis' spokeswoman Shelby Wieman claimed, "The Governor has already let the Mayor know that the State is ready to support the local police department with assistance from state troopers and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation if needed."
COLORADO MAYOR SPEAKS OUT AFTER VIDEO OF ARMED VENEZUELAN GANG IN APARTMENT GOES VIRAL: 'FAILED POLICY'
"But, according to police intelligence this purported invasion is largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination," added Wieman.
The video below shows several armed men in an Aurora, Colorado apartment that some say has been taken over by members of Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan gang.
City Council Member Danielle Jurinsky has been at the forefront of this issue, including evacuating several residents from an armed gang-occupied apartment building on Wednesday.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Jurinsky fired back at Polis, asking "My question back to the governor is, is this also a figment of the Romeros' imagination? And the other resident that I helped to get out of there, and the other residents that I am going to continue to get out of there?"
Spokeswoman Shelby Wieman responded to Fox News Digital, saying "[Governor Polis] hopes that the city council members in charge stop trashing their own city when they are supposed to keep it safe."
VIDEO SHOWS ARMED GANG AT TROUBLED COLORADO APARTMENT BUILDING BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN TAKEN OVER BY MIGRANTS
"We know violent crime in Aurora went down between 2022-2023, fully expect the data will show further declines for 2024, and the recent misinformation campaign threatens actual criminal investigations and could hurt the climate for small businesses in Aurora," Wieman concluded.
According to reporting from the New York Post, more than 40,000 migrants have arrived to the Denver area since December 2022.
"The situation is real but it also needs to be put into context so that the reputation of an entire city of over 400,000 residents is not adversely impacted by what has occurred in several isolated apartment buildings owned by the same out-of-state slum lord," said Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital.
"There are people behind this that are solely, playing politics," said Danielle Jurinsky. "That is so sad to me because they're real human beings, just like the Romeros suffering on the other side of those doors, living behind four deadbolt locks and a door brace and living in fear every day in these complexes."
"It is very promising that across the board, people are really seeing what is happening," said Jurinsky. "Video footage is only undeniable for our governor in Colorado. Everybody else across the country is seeing this for themselves."
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The Aurora Police Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.