Edward and Cindy Romero were faced with a problem. A frightening problem. They were unable to move out of their apartment in Aurora, Colo., but there was no way they could safely stay there. The complex has been overrun and taken over by a Venezuelan gang.
Cindy told Denver TV station KDVR, “It’s been a nightmare, and I can’t wait to get out of here.” In addition to their car being hit multiple times during a shootout, the Romeros had to install a series of locks on their door to try to keep gang members from forcing their way into the apartment. Cindy said:
Every day when we come home, we have to do this every time we go outside to take out the garbage. Every time we go to bed at night. We have to keep like this so that nobody can kick in the door.
JUST IN: An armed illegal immigrant gang has reportedly taken over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 28, 2024
New footage obtained by @vicentearenastv shows an armed gang at a complex in Aurora.
Aurora officials have been investigating a Venezuelan gang, the Tren de Aragua gang,… pic.twitter.com/PBPILlyudk
The Romeros were not the only ones who had become fed up, furious, and frightened. You can watch a woman vent her frustration over a similar situation in Denver at this link. Because of the nanny algorithm that monitors PJ Media for every potential infraction, I opted not to post the video since the woman uses the F-word more times in 4:31 than I thought possible. So consider yourself duly warned and use headphones or earbuds if necessary. But her anger is understandable.
The Romeros were eventually able to flee the depredations of the Tren de Aragua gang with the help of Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky. She lays the blame at the feet of the Biden-Harris administration, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis. She told the New York Post:
To our governor and to the mayor of Denver, I refuse to be silenced. I refuse to play the game of politics with you regarding this migrant crisis. And I will continue to speak up and speak out and help as many people as I can. I worry about everything that I know regarding this gang. And I worry about everything that I don’t know.
For now, the Romeros have found refuge, but for how long? Aurora's problem, which includes multiple apartment complexes that have been taken over, is the result of the spillover from Denver. The day will come when there will be no safe places, including your neighborhood.
Yes, this is a direct result of the Biden-Harris-Mayorkas immigration policies. Those policies were designed to increase the Democratic voter base and to further an agenda. But in the case of Colorado and sanctuary cities across the nation, the blame can and should also land at the feet of governors and mayors.
When it comes to the wealthy and the government class, a problem is not a problem until it becomes a problem for them. You can bet that the citizens of Vail and Aspen are not concerned in the least about the issues gripping the people of Denver and Aurora. Polis is high enough in the government that these problems will never affect him or his family.
In some instances, it is a matter of governments wanting to reimagine policing or embrace a flood of immigrants because it is the progressive thing to do. But I suspect that, to quote Richard Dreyfuss from "Jaws," they ignore this particular problem because it has not swum up and bitten them on the a**.
Here is a case in point, albeit a much more minor one. The area in which I live is experiencing a great deal of growth. This growth includes a high-density housing development on my block and a large retail development around an established grocery store. This has resulted in an increase in traffic and a massive uptick in speeding.
My neighborhood still has kids who run lemonade stands and ride their bikes up and down the streets. Mothers walk their children to the elementary school down the street and the middle school a block away. Moms take their babies and toddlers out for walks during the day. The street increasingly looks and sounds like the Brickyard at Indy.
I asked a city council member about installing speed bumps. He rejected the idea since speed bumps damage the snow plows. Okay, how about dips? He informed me that putting those in would be more expensive than speed bumps. Okay, so we're saving money. Make sure you tell the family of an accident victim how much money the city saved. Maybe the city can chip in for the hospital expenses or the funeral.
We've also seen an influx of vagrants. By now, you have seen the photos of the migrant camps in various cities around the U.S. Salt Lake City has blocks that have become cluttered with seas of tents and homemade shelters. I don't live in Salt Lake, but shopping centers attract panhandlers, including the one near me. One of the vagrants has a sign asking for gas money. He has been trying to raise enough gas money to get out of town for over a year now. Another was a widower and needed money. The next day, he needed money for his sick wife. Maybe she got better.
When these guys get tired, they flop down in the park strips with all of their baggage. They have been working their way down the street, down toward the elementary school, and they have started napping right where families with children like to stroll and kids set up lemonade stands.
I called the police to ask about the city's transient policies. I had to explain to the woman who answered the phone what the word "transient" meant, which did not fill me with optimism. When I finally reached an officer, I was told that while transients can't camp on public property, they are free to crash on private property unless the owner complains. And besides, he said, if they get run out of one place, they will just turn up in another.
According to the officer, there was nothing he could do. So the kids with their bikes and lemonade stands, the families out for a stroll or walking to church on Sunday may have to avoid someone passed out in a park strip. And once word gets around that there is a workaround when it comes to sleeping in public, how many more will show up? The city is so focused on quantity that it ignores safety and the quality of life. Nipping problems in the bud, before they give rise to a tragedy, is either too expensive or a pain in the backside. Aurora is a perfect example.
Obviously, neither of these issues is as dire as the situations in Denver and Aurora. But in all of these cases, we see governments ignoring problems for progressive street cred, monetary gain, or a simple lack of concern for those who have to bear the cost, literally and figuratively, for these policies.
In case you didn't know it, America, you are on your own.
