Denver Mayor Faces Aerial Attack Ad, Recall Effort Over Migrant Policy

Look, up in the sky. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s…another jab at Denver Mayor Mike Johnston!

Johnston has fielded national and local criticism for weeks since suggesting he would mobilize Denver police to face off against federal agents if they try to enforce President-elect Donald Trump’s mass deportation threats. The mayor later walked back that comment, saying he has no plans for an armed conflict with the federal government – but he maintained his willingness to protest deportations and even face arrest.

Now, critiques against Johnston are getting some serious airtime – and we don’t mean news coverage.

A sky banner reading “MIKE JOHNSTON â¤ï¸ CRIME” was seen flying over Denver on Monday, December 2. The company behind the flight, Drag ‘n’ Fly Banners, says it was contracted by an aerial messaging broker on behalf of an anonymous client. However, the banner shares phrasing with a recall campaign of a similar name, mikejohnstonlovescrime.com, which is collecting petition signatures in an attempt to oust the mayor.

“[Johnston] loves [crime] so much he says he will FIGHT the Federal Government to keep the 40,000+ illegal immigrants he welcomed into the city from being deported,” the campaign’s website reads. “He must be recalled.”

Hey Mayor @mikejohnstonco did you see the special message for you in the sky this afternoon? 😘https://t.co/G5TtgHOpSV#recall #byebye @govofco #visitdenver pic.twitter.com/ba1s4tSp2v

— Do Better Denver (@dobetterdnvr) December 3, 2024

Johnston’s spokesperson, Jordan Fuja, says the mayor is not concerned about the plane or the recall effort: “Mayor Johnston is focused on delivering for Denverites, not a random plane or ‘campaign’ website,” she says.

Nearly 43,000 migrants have come to Denver since December 2022, according to the mayor’s office, with estimates that around half of them have remained in the Denver area. The influx has placed the Denver metro area at the center of a national immigration debate – particularly Aurora, which became the subject of claims that apartment complexes or the entire city had been taken over by a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua (TdA). The Aurora Police Department has repeatedly denied that apartment complexes in Aurora have been taken over by TdA.

When Trump held a rally in Aurora in October, he promised to begin a mass deportation project called Operation Aurora on his first day back in office. Since he won the election, Trump’s allies have said they will defund sanctuary cities that resist him.

In an interview with Denverite last month, Johnston pledged to protect undocumented immigrants and said the city’s residents and police force would resist federal forces trying to enforce mass deportation efforts.

“More than us having DPD stationed at the county line to keep them out, you would have 50,000 Denverites there,” Johnston said. “It’s like the Tiananmen Square moment with the rose and the gun, right? You’d have every one of those Highland moms who came out for the migrants. And you do not want to mess with them.”

Two days later, in an interview with 9News, Johnston said he regretted invoking the imagery of police conflict. But the mayor said he believes Denver residents will participate in civil disobedience if Trump acts on the mass deportation threats, adding that he would encourage residents to protest and is “not afraid” of being arrested for resisting, though he is “also not seeking that.”

Johnston’s critics leading the recall effort say they blame him and the migrants for changing “the feel of our beloved Denver to a lawless city,” claiming they “have directly increased the level of crime in Denver” and “exacerbated an already acute housing shortage.”

Year-over-year crime is down in Denver, Aurora and statewide, the Associated Press reports. Following the national trend, Denver’s violent crime has fallen for the past two years after a spike starting at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to when Johnston took office in 2023, the city has seen a 12 percent drop in gun violence, including a 30 percent decrease in fatal shootings.

Denver has spent approximately $138 million since the beginning of 2023 on hotel shelters for the homeless and migrant populations. The mayor’s office points out that only around $27 million has gone to shelters specifically for newcomers.