"Resist Part I: The History of Ground Zero Aurora"
Photo Documentary Written By Nathaniel Hankins
In late 2023, security camera footage surfaced of an employee being beaten in a hallway outside what he expected to be a vacant apartment in Aurora’ Whispering Pines complex. The employee later explained to police that he had rejected a bribe to look the other way by a group of men inside. When he refused, they attacked.
The employee managed to escape and make it to a hospital. But the event echoed the rising crime rates and began to influence concerns of a rise in gang activity.
Months later, video footage showed armed men, reported to be members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, attempting to enter units at the Edge at Lowry Apartments, also in Aurora.
On July 28, 2024, as the presidential race cranked into high gear, a series of shootings took place in Aurora beginning at yet another Aurora complex, the Aspen Grove. At 4:30 a.m. officers responded to reports of gunfire. They found two gunshot victims and another with a broken ankle.
Police arrested a 22-year-old man they identified as a member of gang. Later that same day, a marked police vehicle was struck by a stray bullet, and investigators determined that a rolling shootout had occurred between two vehicles that injured a bystander in the 1500 block of Havana Street.
Shell casings linked the shootout to the one that took place hours earlier and three suspects were arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder, but while the individuals knew each other, there was no evidence connecting them to Tren de Aragua.
The events triggered accusations from then presidential candidate Donald Trump, who promised at an October event in the city to launch an “Operation Aurora” crackdown on illegal immigration that now has centered enormous media attention on the city.
Meanwhile, local media dug in to find out whether the apartments were plagued by violent and heavily armed TdA members, or perhaps longstanding health concerns and complaints registered against its owner, a New York City absentee landlord, were behind a cynical effort on the owner’s part to shift blame that became a handy campaign tool.
Either way, the result has been that for weeks now, Aurora and Denver have seen two big stories developing in real time. One is the story of heavily equipped and newly empowered immigration control agents actively targeting the complexes. The other, enormous public protests at the state capitol and in Aurora.
Following the inauguration of President Donald Trump, Operation Aurora went into effect on Jan. 30, 2025. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, in conjunction with local authorities, led a series of raids that began at 4 a.m. on Feb. 5, 2025.
The agencies converged on communities in up-armored vehicles, wearing full tactical gear and deploying smoke grenades for cover. Their mission was to arrest “Violent members of the TdA.”
Eyewitnesses asserted that warrants were denied when requested and that agents pounded on doors asking, “Do you speak English?” Reports claimed ICE agents entered homes without warrants, detained minors for extended periods, cordoned off areas to prevent children from going to school, and instilled fear in the community through aggressive actions that sent shock waves through multiple neighborhoods.
End of Part I
