But before that, outspoken Aurora City Council rep Danielle Jurinsky went to Fort Worth, Texas, on September 19 to record an interview about the city she represents as an at-large councilmember for an episode of Dr. Phil Primetime set to air air on Monday, September 30, at 6 p.m.
Jurinsky, who represents Aurora on an at-large seat, says the interview was "mostly about immigration" and that she was filmed alongside Cindy Romero, a former resident of the Edge of Lowry, an apartment complex at 1218 Dallas Street in Aurora. Romero was the tenant who used a Blink door camera to film five armed men walking through the building's halls. That footage went viral on August 28 and bolstered national and international media accounts claiming that Aurora was being taken over by Venezuelan gangs.
"I was on the show with Cindy Romero to help tell her story about getting her family moved out of their terrible living conditions," Jurinsky says. "There were four guests on and they did a lot of filming, but I have no idea how the story will be put together."
According to an episode description by Merit Street Media, the company that produces Dr. Phil Primetime, "Dr Phil talks with Cindy...who says she experienced months of escalating violence, including shootings, armed men in hallways, and threats, which she attributes to Venezuelan gang known as Tren De Aragua."
Jurinsky helped Romero move out of the Edge in late August, just before her Blink footage went viral. By then, Jurinsky was already supporting and repeating the claim that an Aurora apartment building had been taken over by violent gangs.
"Despite her frequent calls to 911, Cindy says police response was inadequate," according to the episode decription. "She eventually moved out with the help of city council member Danielle Jurinsky, who has been vocal about the suspected presence of Venezuelan gangs in the area."
John Fabbricatore, a former ICE field director who is now running as a Republican for Colorado's 6th congressional seat, joined Jurinsky and Romero for the interview. According to the episode description, Fabbricatore says "Colorado’s sanctuary state status has made it attractive for gangs like Tren De Aragua to set up shop. He also blames lax security at our borders, contributing to the gang presence in Colorado."
The first public mention of Venezuelan gangs taking over buildings in Aurora came from CBZ Management, a Brooklyn-based property management company, on August 6. One of the company's owners, Zev Baumgarten, used a PR firm to tell the media that the apartment complex it ran at 1568 Nome Street in Aurora had fallen into disrepair because his employees had been scared away by violent threats by Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan prison gang.
CBZ Management made that claim a few days before the City of Aurora shut down 1568 Nome Street and evicted a couple hundred residents on August 13. The city had been citing CBZ Management for code violations at the building since 2020, long before an influx of Venezuelan migrants; in fact, Baumgarten had an August 27 court date to answer charges regarding conditions at the building.
But Jurinsky, who is the chair of the Public Safety Committee for Aurora City Council, openly backed CBZ Management and its claims of a Venezuelan gang takeover. At an August 8 public safety meeting with two other councilmembers, she said, "None of us buy that story that this is based on a code enforcement violation. The three of us believe there is a huge gang problem."
Claims that Aurora apartments were taken over by the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua spread after a video went viral in late August.
Screenshot from X
But Jurinsky continued to defend CBZ Management and insist that Venezuelan gangs are a threat in Aurora. On August 27, she went on Fox News, where she said that Aurora is experiencing "a complete takeover" by violent Venezuelan gangs.
On September 3, the same day that residents of the Edge held a press conference to dispute the gang claims, Jurinsky spoke to a live audience of 5,000 users on X in a conversation titled "What is Going on in Aurora, Co w/ Whistleblower Danielle Jurinsky."
In that conversation, she said she had been to apartments in Aurora taken over by gangs and had seen gang members use a whistling system to hide from authorities. She also called herself the "loudest voice on this issue."
Then, during the September 10 presidential debate, Donald Trump name-dropped Aurora as an example of the migrant crisis. "Look at Aurora in Colorado," he said. "They are taking over the towns. They're taking over the buildings. They're going in violently." The next day, Jurinsky and Coffman issued a "unified statement" to "clear the record" about Venezuelan gangs.
But it did not. And on September 18, Trump said he's coming to Aurora. "In the next two weeks I'm going to Springfield and I'm going to Aurora," Trump announced at a New York rally. "You may never see me again but that's OKAY. I've gotta do what I gotta do."
With her interview with talk-show host McGraw, Jurinsky will get another chance to push her version of what's happening in Aurora.
Jurinsky has had plenty happen to her in Aurora. After she called then-Aurora Police Chief Vanessa Wilson "trash" on a radio show in 2022, Wilson's girlfriend at the time, Robin Niceta, retaliated by falsely reporting Jurinsky for child abuse. Jurinsky was cleared and Niceta, who was a social worker for Arapahoe County, is now serving a four-year prison sentence. Meanwhile, Jurinsky was the reported victim of a domestic-violence incident in April; that case was settled with a plea deal.
Jurinsky was elected to her seat on Aurora City Council in 2021. She advocates a tough-on-crime approach, passed a law to put shoplifters in jail, and supported a resolution to keep Aurora's pocketbook closed to migrant support. She doesn't shy away from criticizing the mayor, other councilmembers or the "entire staff" of the City of Aurora, as she did when she was only a few months into office. She's still the owner of JJ's Place, a restaurant at 2340 South Chambers Road in Aurora, which she has been running since before being elected.
This article was updated on September 30 to add information about the content and air date of the episode.
