'Slap in the face': Media, government downplaying Venezuelan gangs, says woman who fled her Colorado apartment

Media and government officials are downplaying the impact of Venezuelan gangs in Aurora, Colorado, says one woman who moved out of her apartment earlier this year due to increasing violence.

"I feel like it's a slap in the face," Cindy Romero told Fox News Digital. "How many gangs is okay to have in Aurora? How many properties is okay to take over? How many people, who are citizens paying their bills, is it okay to displace?"

Romero's comments come after GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance and ABC News host Martha Raddatz clashed during an interview Sunday about the presence of Venezuelan gangs in Aurora.

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Raddatz confronted Vance over former President Donald Trump's allegations that members of the transnational Tren de Aragua gang have "taken over" apartment complexes and "invaded and conquered" the city.

"I’m going to stop you because I know exactly what happened," Raddatz told Vance. "I’m going to stop you. ‘The incidents were limited to a handful of apartment complexes’ and the mayor said,, ‘Our dedicated police officers have acted on those concerns.’ A handful of problems."

Vance responded, "Martha, do you hear yourself? Only a handful of apartment complexes in America were taken over by Venezuelan gangs, and Donald Trump is the problem and not Kamala Harris’ open border?"

Trump blasted President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' border policies during his campaign stop Friday in Aurora, and formally proposed a plan to mobilize ICE, Border Patrol and federal law enforcement to "hunt down, arrest and deport every last illegal alien gang member until there is not a single one left in this country."

Romero briefly appeared onstage with Trump during the rally. She and her husband moved out of their apartment in August after Romero said the crime got to be too much to handle.

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The couple's security cameras recorded a group of men with guns forcing their way into a neighbor's house. Several shootouts occurred at the complex, Romero said. During one, a bullet hit her car. She said police rarely responded to her 911 calls.

"I feel like the mayor and the governor and the [police] all downplay the situation," Romero said. "I was pushed out of my apartment by gang activity, people carrying guns in the hallway and patrolling the grounds with guns."

Last month, local police announced the arrest of 10 members of the Tren de Aragua gang in connection with criminal activity around apartment buildings.

Local and national news outlets have called Trump's narrative about gangs in Colorado misleading, and city officials accused the media of having "considerably exaggerated incidents that are isolated to a handful of problem properties alone." Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, previously told Fox News Digital in a statement that the "situation is real, but it also needs to be put into context."

Coffman said the city is "a victim" of federal policy and nearby Denver's sanctuary city status.

"You've had these massive waves of migrants coming across the border that many of them crossed the border illegally, were arrested, asked for a political asylum, were not adequately vetted, were released into the country, the city of Aurora," he said in an August interview on "America Reports." "We did everything we could to, quite frankly, keep them out of the city because it's not our problem. This is a federal problem."