Not Giving Laken Riley’s Killer The Death Penalty Is A Miscarriage Of Justice
Ibarra should have received the death penalty as a matter of principle for a nation that values the lives of its citizens.Ibarra should have received the death penalty as a matter of principle for a nation that values the lives of its citizens.Aurora apartment owner confirms Venezuelan gang takeovers — releases shocking evidence of bloody assault
CBZ Management, a company that owns a number of apartment complexes in Colorado, broke its silence on Friday, confirming that the vicious Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua has taken over several properties.
The company started an account on X to share its side of the story after many local officials and the media reported that the claims of TDA's takeover were overblown.
'Yes, gangs did take control of our apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, and the government did nothing. That is the real story.'
Rumors of the transnational gang's expanded presence in the area became seemingly undeniable in late August when Cindy Romero, a former tenant at the Edge at Lowry, a property owned by CBZ, released a video showing a group of armed men storming through the complex, Blaze News previously reported. Another video the then-tenant captured showed a man using a hammer to destroy the deadbolt lock on the same apartment unit.
Cindy Romero and her husband, Edward, were desperate to leave the complex, saying it had become "a nightmare" since the gang had moved in. Aurora City Council member Danielle Jurinsky ultimately helped find the Romeros another place to live.
At the time, Jurinksy told Fox News Digital that it was "like pulling teeth to get anyone, the media, other elected officials ... to acknowledge the presence of this trend and to acknowledge that there is even a problem."
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) called the TDA invasion "largely a feature of Danielle Jurinsky's imagination."
CBZ explained that it had begun managing the Colorado properties in 2019, and, at that time, the apartments "were in poor condition." The company aimed to renovate the complexes and increase their value, noting that the project was "ambitious" and would "take years" to complete.
"Everything was progressing smoothly: property values were rising, and vacancy rates were dropping. It was a win-win for both the owners and the city of Aurora," CBZ wrote in a lengthy thread on X. "Then, the gangs arrived."
In 2023, one of CBZ's representatives was viciously attacked when he attempted to perform an inspection at one of the properties, the company stated. When he arrived, he found "a group of men" inside a three-bedroom apartment that should have been vacated.
"When he refused their $500 bribe to overlook the situation, they brutally attacked him," CBZ wrote.
The company released a short surveillance video of the attack and a photograph taken shortly afterward showing the victim's injuries. In the picture, the representative's face and shirt were covered in blood, and he appeared to have bruising around his eye.
Unfortunately, it did not end there for the CBZ representative, the company said.
"After the attack on our CBZ representative, he began getting threatening text messages," the company continued. "These criminals revealed his home address and his spouse's name."
According to CBZ, law enforcement officials confirmed that those sending the messages and occupying the complexes were TDA members.
"They also mentioned that our situation was just 'a blip on the radar,' as this gang is causing significant problems nationwide," CBZ said.
After effectively taking over three complexes, gang members allegedly presented CBZ with an ultimatum to split the rental income in half or "lose the buildings permanently."
CBZ said it made the decision to withdraw its management team from the properties due to safety concerns.
"Despite the obvious crisis, several city officials refused to acknowledge the reality. Instead, they blamed us, citing 'code violations' as the reason for shutting down our property—violations we couldn't resolve for tenants who weren't even ours," CBZ wrote.
The company claimed that the only violations it did not resolve were those made after the gang took over.
Even after local reports surfaced of authorities arresting 10 confirmed TDA gang members with ties to the apartment takeovers, the media and local officials continued to call others' concerns overblown.
On Sunday, Republican vice presidential nominee, Sen. JD Vance (Ohio), humiliated ABC News anchor Martha Raddatz for trying to downplay the severity of the situation in Aurora. According to Raddatz, former President Donald Trump's claims that TDA has taken over parts of the city have been debunked.
"Do you support Donald Trump making those claims that the Republican mayor says were grossly exaggerated and have hurt the city's identity and sense of safety?" Raddatz asked Vance.
"Martha, you just said the mayor said they were exaggerated. That means there's got to be some element of truth here," Vance responded.
Raddatz interrupted Vance's reply and stated that the TDA takeovers "were limited to a handful of apartment complexes."
"Martha, do you hear yourself?!" Vance fired back. "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?!"
In a post on X, CBZ wrote, "Despite clear evidence, many still deny the reality of the situation, sometimes using us as scapegoats. That's why we are no longer staying silent. We will continue to counter falsehoods with simple facts and evidence."
"Yes, gangs did take control of our apartment complexes in Aurora, Colorado, and the government did nothing. That is the real story," it added.
Cindy Romero told Fox News on Monday that the media's attempts to minimize the situation feel like "a slap in the face."
"How many gangs is OK to have in Aurora? How many properties is OK to take over? How many people, who are citizens paying their bills, is it OK to displace?" Romero asked.
An Aurora representative told the New York Post that CBZ's claims were "exaggerations."
"These delinquent property owners, managers and/or 'investors' conveniently fail to acknowledge that their own bank lenders took them to court in the last few weeks where a judge ordered some of their problematic properties into receivership," the spokesperson stated. "That means a judge has given the legal authority to a third-party receiver to actually manage the properties, and who the property owners will be forced to compensate."
The FBI declined to comment, the Post reported.
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‘Red button’ at the ready? Venezuelan gangs are waging war inside America
Warfare often brings to mind tanks, planes, and bombs. However, today’s most dangerous threats don’t always arrive with the sound of explosions. Instead, they hide in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Experts call this “asymmetric warfare,” where enemies attack from the periphery, using unpredictable, low-tech methods designed to bypass traditional defenses.
Asymmetric warfare isn’t just a foreign issue; it’s happening on American soil, facilitated by the Biden administration’s failure at the southern border. Through its open-border policy, the administration has allowed — intentionally or not — a “red button” threat to form within our borders. This capability could lie dormant for years, waiting for the right moment to strike. The Washington Post recently referred to Israel’s pager attack on Hezbollah as a “red button” strike. Hezbollah had no idea they carried the threat in their pockets until it was too late. What dormant threats are we facing on our own soil?
Our enemies are exploiting our weaknesses, using our own systems and laws against us.
The Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua poses one of the most alarming threats we face, serving as the key to our “red button.” It is taking advantage of the Biden-Harris border crisis to infiltrate the U.S., causing chaos nationwide. From the violent seizure of apartment buildings in Aurora, Colorado, to the murder of Laken Riley in Georgia to attacks on New York City police officers, Tren de Aragua is building a hidden criminal empire in immigrant shelters across the country.
This gang isn't merely a criminal network — it collaborates with the Venezuelan government. “Insight Crime” reports that Tren de Aragua is integral to Venezuela’s “hybrid governance system,” in which the gang enforces the will of the Maduro regime, much like militant civilian groups that crush political dissent. Its activities go beyond common crime, with accusations of political assassinations, and it is now shifting its focus toward the United States.
According to a U.S. Army leak, Tren de Aragua has launched attacks on U.S. military facilities, including surveillance of bases such as Lackland Air Force Base and Fort Sam Houston in Texas. These incidents resemble probing attacks — testing defenses, identifying weak spots, and preparing for something more dangerous. The gang has also collaborated with Cuban nationals at the largest oil field in America: the Permian Basin. Its targets go beyond military installations — it's focusing on America's economic lifeline.
The extent of this network is even more alarming. A leak obtained by James O’Keefe revealed a detailed map showing Tren de Aragua operating across cities and states nationwide. It's not confined to border towns; its presence stretches throughout the country. This is a "red button" waiting to be pressed, and it’s only a matter of time before it’s fully triggered.
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas recently designated Tren de Aragua a terrorist organization, according to reports. The U.S. Army leak confirmed this gang's connections to groups like Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and other international terror networks. This connection makes Tren de Aragua more than just a criminal gang; it is part of a broader, well-organized network that includes some of the world’s most dangerous people. These links, especially between Iran, Venezuela, and their proxies — like Hezbollah — are shifting from criminal operations to acts of urban terrorism within the U.S., further justifying the designation.
Over the past four years, the southern border has become a revolving door for immigrants from Central and South America, many coming from countries controlled by hostile regimes. Did Biden and Harris give our enemies a first-strike opportunity by opening the border and letting this threat grow? Whether intentional or not, their administration has allowed hostile regimes to infiltrate our borders and build a criminal network capable of striking at any moment. What we’ve seen so far appears to be just “trial runs.”
This isn’t just policy failure — it’s asymmetric warfare against the United States. Our enemies are exploiting our weaknesses, using our own systems and laws against us. If we don’t act now, the consequences could be catastrophic — and Donald Trump aims to prevent that. He recently proposed mass deportation as a solution to the escalating border crisis, starting with criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua. Trump’s plan would help us regain control of our borders and root out the enemies embedded in our communities, making it a national security imperative.
In a world where wars are no longer fought solely on battlefields, we must acknowledge that our enemies are already within our borders. The Biden administration’s failure to secure the southern border has put every American at risk, allowing the “red button” to be assembled on our soil, waiting to be activated against the American people. We must dismantle it before it’s too late.
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Sabo strikes! 'Kamala's Illegals' signs hit gang-ravaged town
The video is shocking.
An apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, invaded by heavily armed men, reportedly members of violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Locals say the gang has taken over the complex.
Residents of the complex — those who haven't managed to flee — are living in fear, waiting for the next shoot-out.
Blame it on nearby "sanctuary city" Denver, which has welcomed the largest number of migrants per capita of any American city — more than 40,000 since December 2022.
Some, we assume, are good people. And some are affiliated with the same ruthless criminal organization as Jose Ibarra, the Tren de Aragua member accused of attacking and killing 22-year-old University of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley in February.
The Aurora video is just the latest dispatch from our ongoing immigration crisis. It will no doubt soon be forgotten in the relentless churn of our news cycle.
But dissident street artist Sabo decided to do what he could to keep our focus on what's happening in Aurora — and the larger crisis it represents — for at least a few moments more.
As he tells Align: "I put these up in Aurora, Colorado, last night. Nome St. is the street where the apartment complex [in the video] is. I was saying the Lord's Prayer while putting them up."
"Within hours, half of them were torn down," he adds.
But not before the local press noticed the "racist" and "anti-immigrant" signs.
Sabo, not surprisingly, disagrees with that characterization.
"'Racist' is [using] our tax dollars to put violent illegal aliens, not migrants, on our streets to terrorize the poorest people of color in our communities," he says.
Sabo's latest installation — which debuted earlier this month at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago — also captured the imagination of Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Colorado Governor Jared Polis, both Democrats.
Sabo remains philosophical about these high-profile critics. Like any artist, he's just happy to get his work out there.
"This is a master class on how to turn six signs only a few people would have seen into a viral story that will reach thousands," he says. "Thank you, liberal press."
Below, we're proud to present some images of Sabo's latest exhibition.
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