What led to rumors Trump shared about Venezuelan gangs taking over a Colorado building?

Former President Donald Trump repeated debunked rumors related to Venezuelan gangs in a Colorado town during Tuesday night’s presidential debate.

Former President Donald Trump repeated again and again debunked rumors related to Venezuelan gangs in a Colorado town during Tuesday night’s presidential debate.

Social media posts falsely claiming a Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, have circulated widely in pro-Trump communities and been boosted by right-wing pundits in recent weeks. 

Even after local officials publicly refuted that the Tren de Aragua gang had taken over the building, sensationalist claims vaguely tying the rumors to the growth of Colorado’s migrant population continued going viral on social media. Trump amplified them further over the past week as he brought up the rumors several times in recent rallies and interviews — and then again at Tuesday night’s debate.

“We have millions of people pouring into our country. … You look at Aurora in Colorado. They are taking over the towns. They’re taking over buildings. They’re going in violently,” Trump said on the debate stage in Philadelphia. “They’re destroying our country. They’re dangerous. They’re at the highest level of criminality. And we have to get them out.”

The viral rumors used “the most common forms of misinformation” tactics, such as reposting old videos without context, misrepresenting existing data and “frankensteining” together misleading pieces of evidence to fabricate a false narrative, according to the News Literacy Project, a nonprofit fact-checking organization that debunked the rumor.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/trump-debate-venezuelan-gangs-colorado-rcna170255

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