It was effectively occupied by a large crowd, mostly immigrants from Venezuela. Shopping Mall Parking Lot On Sunday night, protesters in Aurora, Colorado, fired shots into the air and dumped trash everywhere in protest of the presidential election in Venezuela, some 3,000 miles away.
Between 5 and 6 p.m. on Sunday, people began gathering at the Gardens on Havana shopping center, many waving Venezuelan flags, as early vote counts showed political outsider Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia on track to win a landslide victory against socialist President Nicolas Maduro, who came to power in Venezuela in 2013 following the death of socialist dictator Hugo Chavez.
However, Venezuelan authorities reportedly kept the results secret for several hours, and just after midnight the National Electoral Commission announced that Maduro had won, securing a third term in power.
Foreign leaders have denounced the election for fraud and called for transparency in the results, and even Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed “serious concerns” about Maduro’s purported victory, as Blaze News previously reported.
“This is the United States of America… this is your city.”
The crowds gathered in Aurora were similarly unsettled. Aurora Police DepartmentUp to 4,000 people flocked to the shopping centre, causing nearby roads to become “impassable”, preventing customers from entering or leaving the mall.
The Aurora Police Department acknowledged other violent behavior by the crowd, which “left trash and debris” and “fired shots into the air,” the department said in a statement.
Aurora City Council Member’s Facebook Post Daniel Jurinski “A shopping centre has been attacked, cars trapped. Roads have been blocked off. There are reports of assaults, thefts and shots being fired into the air. I have not heard any reports of fatalities,” she wrote.
No one was reported injured in the shooting, but Jurinski claimed in a Facebook post that “a police vehicle was shot at.” She later backtracked, saying: 9News“That’s what I was told, but I haven’t seen any police cars.”
Police confirmed that an “unidentified object” had struck the patrol and caused “minor damage”, but could not confirm whether the object came from the rally. The incident remains under investigation.
Authorities also said that Zhulinski’s “police force was completely overwhelmed. [were] “Police were forced to evacuate the scene for their own safety,” Aurora spokesman Ryan Ruby countered. “Police did not leave the scene and were present throughout the incident.”
Police investigated a possible assault and shoplifting incident at the shopping center on Sunday, but otherwise made no arrests and did not issue “any tickets, citations or summonses,” police said.
“We understand that Sunday’s incident caused anxiety and uncertainty for many residents and citizens,” Aurora police spokesman Detective Matt Longshore said Tuesday.
Councilwoman Jurinski seemed visibly frustrated by the unrest in Aurora over the foreign election: “Thousands of people have occupied and completely shut down parts of our city. … This happened in the United States of America … This happened in your city,” she wrote on Facebook.
“We are concerned about comments that could misinterpret this event and incite fear, division and violence against newcomers. Aurora has always thrived because of its diversity.”
So did Mayor Mike Coffman, a former Republican who served in Congress and as Colorado’s Secretary of State. Facebook It expressed concern about an “unfortunate incident” caused by “members of the Venezuelan migrant community.”
“Not only did their celebrations block access to stores at the Gardens on Havana Shopping Center, but they also left behind large amounts of trash, beer bottles and cans in the parking lot for retailers to clean up at their own expense,” Coffman continued.
He also demanded an apology.
My message to the leaders of the Venezuelan immigrant community is that I fully understand why you celebrate, but that does not exempt your community from acting responsibly, and that you owe the residents of my city an apology for the unacceptable behavior exhibited by too many of your community members.
A local activist group, SOS Venezuela Denver, quickly came forward.
“The decision to hold such an event without considering the consequences or assessing the risks is unacceptable,” the group’s statement read. “Especially considering that the city of Aurora has been particularly welcoming to the Venezuelan community, this event is a sad display of lawlessness and disregard for the community,” the group said.
In contrast, the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition argued that the protests were “peaceful” and therefore protected by the First Amendment. Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition spokesperson Raquel Lane Arellano further accused “some city council members” of endangering Venezuelan “newcomers” by covering the events.
“We are concerned by statements made by some city council members that may misrepresent events and incite fear, division and violence against newcomers. Aurora has always thrived because of its diversity, and we urge Aurora residents and city council members to reject divisive rhetoric and refrain from sharing unverified information,” Lane Arellano said.
Nearly 8 million Venezuelans have left their home country in recent years, including 40,000 who moved to the Denver metropolitan area. Denver Gazette The influx of immigrants is estimated to have cost local taxpayers about $72 million in less than two years.
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