Former President Donald Trump repeatedly denied rumors of Venezuelan gangs in his Colorado town during Tuesday night’s presidential debate.
Social media posts Falsely claiming that a Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment complex It has spread widely in pro-Trump communities in Aurora, Colorado, and has been championed by right-wing pundits in recent weeks.
Even after local officials publicly denied the existence of the Tren de Aragua gang that he had taken over the building, closed the sensational claims in no uncertain terms Colorado’s growing migrant population continued to spread on social networks. Trump fueled the rumors last week as he brought up the rumors several times in recent rallies and interviews — and then again in Tuesday night’s debate.
“We have millions of people flocking to our country. … You are looking at the Aurora in Colorado. They occupy the cities. They take over the buildings. They’re coming in violently,” Trump said on the stage at a debate in Philadelphia. “They are destroying our country. They are dangerous. They are at the highest level of criminality. And we have to remove them.”
Viral rumors used “the most common forms of disinformationTactics like reposting old videos out of context, distorting existing information, and “frankensteining” together misleading evidence to create a false narrative. News Literacy Projecta non-profit fact-checking organization denied this rumor.
Roberta Braga, founder and executive director of the Digital Democracy Institute of America, a nonprofit that studies the impact of misinformation on Latino communitiestold NBC News that the false allegations about Tren de Aragua are the latest examples of rumors created to feed a larger narrative aimed at demonizing immigrants.
“We often see these claims that immigrants are criminals or gang members, portraying them as the source of increased crime and insecurity in the United States, and putting what people see as a decline squarely on them. of American society,” Braga said.
Residents of Aurora apartments are mostly immigrants from Venezuela and other Latin American countries. denied false rumors about the gang’s takeover and said they felt increasingly safe after being unfairly criminalized.
Venezuelan Carlos Ordosgoitti, who lives in one of the Aurora buildings, said, “I am afraid because of what is being created now, and all the xenophobic hatred has increased against us.” This was reported by KUSA, a branch of NBC From Denver in Spanish. “I’m really scared.”
How it all started
The false foreclosure lawsuit began with the owner of three Aurora apartment complexes: a embattled property manager charged in municipal court over the years. unresolved health and safety code violations.
Rat and bug infestations, overflowing trash, sewage backups, water leaks and deteriorating infrastructure are some of the violations documented since at least February 2021, city officials said.
But the property management company that owns the buildings has blamed the deplorable conditions on a Venezuelan gang. Over the summer, an attorney representing the company sent letters to local police, city and state officials alleging the gang had “taken control by force.” This was reported by the Denver Gazette.
The allegations were made by city officials, mostly conservatives, without concrete evidence. This was reported by KUSA.
The allegation came to light in the last week of August following reports by local media outlets, including KUSA. a video obtained from a resident of one of the buildings who showed a group of men carrying guns and trying to break down the apartment door.
Aurora police have not yet determined whether the individuals in the video belong to the Venezuelan gang. This was reported by KUSA.
Aurora police said they were investigating its existence Tren de Aragua in coordination with Denver police. But “does not capture gang members“Aurora apartment complex,” police said, adding that gang activity remains “isolated.”
“Every time there’s an isolated instance of a crime committed by a migrant in the United States, it’s cherry-picked and then blown out of proportion to essentially punish all migrants,” he said.
Disinformation spreads even when it is false
Fragments of a video showing gunmen inside an Aurora apartment building were combined with clips from a bimonthly motorcycle parade in Brazil and falsely used on Instagram to claim they were members of the Hells Angels, an outlaw motorcycle club. On his way to Aurora to “save the city after gangs from Venezuela took over the apartments.” Colorado Chapter of the Hells Angels issued a statement rejects the claims.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram, labeled the post as false information after its fact-checking partners. denied the claims. But that didn’t stop false information from spreading like new videos with the same claims various outdated and out of context clips spread on social media platforms.
Mert Bayar, a postdoctoral scholar at Washington University’s Center for an Informed Public who studies rumors about immigrants and noncitizens, told NBC News that the misinformation pattern reflects a well-known online behavior among “news broker” social media accounts. Often hidden behind catchy usernames and cartoon avatars, such accounts “manage and disseminate information about a crisis event,” often crafting inflammatory content to fit a particular agenda.
Another anti-immigrant rumor that spread this week and was repeated by Trump on Tuesday night’s debate stage Allegation that Haitian immigrants harmed pets denied.
Together Interview with KUSAAurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, a Democrat, said other long-standing criminal organizations in the area remain a bigger threat than the Venezuelan gang.
Coffman said “the climate of hysteria about this right now” complicates Tren de Aragua’s ability to ensure it doesn’t get stuck in the area. Coffman even described an example in which some people linked an improbable meeting of Venezuelans awaiting the results of their home country’s presidential election to gang activity.
Aurora police have arrested 10 people linked to Tren de Aragua. This was reported by KUSA.
Despite efforts to dispel myths and rumors about the presence of a Venezuelan gang in Aurora, additional false narratives, including posts on X, continued to surface online. Falsely claiming Aurora police issued a shelter-in-place order in response to Venezuelan gang violence and this Venezuelan gangs have started taking over apartments in Chicago After taking control of one in Aurora.
Both posts remain on X without any labels telling users that they have entered false information. The posts have received 26.3 million views and have been reposted more than 40,000 times. X did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Making immigration a political flashpoint
As part of their political platform, Republicans focus on strict immigration policies and tighter border security. They often focused on narratives linking immigration and crime.
Denver is among the cities has received tens of thousands of migrants in the last year as part of Bus campaign by Texas Governor Greg AbbottRepublicans seek tighter security on the southern border.
Many migrants seeking a lower cost of living have settled in nearby Aurora, where officials say they cannot help newcomers.financial opportunities to fund new services related to this crisis.” Still some migrants lived in residential complexes which are at the center of recent controversies.
Immigrant communities were unexpectedly drawn into a heated political debate when Trump repeatedly drew attention to Aurora, suggesting that a Venezuelan mob had taken over an apartment complex there.
“People should be aware that immigration is a common theme used by misinformers this election season. We need to be more careful when faced with claims designed to incite outrage, anger or fear, or to divide us,” Christina Vega, a spokeswoman for the News Literacy Project, told NBC News. “Voters can avoid having their vote misrepresented by being aware of this trend and taking a few simple steps to confirm whether the claims they see are true.”