AURORA, Colo. — Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinksy made an unfounded accusation that a non-profit is a “communist group” after the non-profit challenged her claims about the extent of gang activity in Aurora.
The East Colfax Community Collective received grant funding from the City of Aurora by a unanimous vote of the conservative-majority Aurora City Council last year. Jurinksy was absent the night of the vote but later voted not to reconsider the grant.
The non-profit drew the conservative councilwoman’s ire – and her unsupported claim that it is a “communist group” – after it organized a rally at a troubled apartment complex where Jurinsky had claimed a Venezuelan gang had taken over the apartments.
At the rally on September 3, people who said they live there told the media they don't worry about gangs as much as they're concerned about an absentee landlord and white supremacist threats that have come in following intense conservative media coverage of the Tren de Aragua gang in Aurora.
The following day, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican, also met with the non-profit and tenants.
The City of Aurora and Aurora Police first acknowledged the gang’s presence in the community in early August. Police have pushed back on claims that the gang has taken over properties but said that nine suspected Tren de Aragua members have been arrested to date.
In a September 4 appearance on a conservative talk show on 630 KHOW, Jurinksy went after the non-profit by name.
“This communist group that is along the Colfax corridor, they’re called the East Colfax Community Collective,” Jurinsky said. “They went out and propped up the folks that are living there, wrote signs for them, and propped them up out there saying, there's no gangs here.”
The same claim was made on the same day by the fringe conspiracy site Infowars, which posted an article with the headline: “Government-Funded Communist Group Holds Protest Claiming No Gangs Are At Aurora, Colorado Apartment Complex.”
Infowars is set to be shut down by a bankruptcy court to pay a $1.5B judgment against its owner, infamous conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, for calling the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting a hoax.
When asked by 9NEWS, Jurinsky was unable to provide evidence of her claim that the East Colfax Community Collective is a “communist group.”
Jurinsky said she thought the group had referred to itself that way but was not able to say when or where that happened.
The East Colfax Community Collective describes itself as a group of local business owners, non-profits, and residents advocating for a “multicultural community where low and moderate-income residents and locally-owned businesses can thrive.”
Co-founder Brandan Greene said the smear by Jurinksy and Infowars was unsurprising.
"Throughout the history of the United States, social justice organizations advocating for housing, human and economic rights have been labeled as “communist” as a means to attempt to silence our voices and the pursuit of justice for our communities,” Greene said in a statement to 9NEWS. “Rather than attacking Aurora residents and non-profit organizations, the focus of the Aurora City Council should be on doing everything in their power to ensure that the Aurora Code Enforcement process is strengthened and held accountable to maintaining the basic public health standards in Aurora apartment complexes.”