{"id":8620,"date":"2024-09-23T09:01:10","date_gmt":"2024-09-23T16:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=8620"},"modified":"2024-09-23T09:01:10","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T16:01:10","slug":"wyoming-sheriff-bursts-out-laughing-at-venezuela-ahead-billboard-at-colorado-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2024\/09\/23\/wyoming-sheriff-bursts-out-laughing-at-venezuela-ahead-billboard-at-colorado-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyoming Sheriff Bursts Out Laughing At “Venezuela Ahead” Billboard At Colorado Border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is pretty funny, and I think the recruitment billboard<\/a> in Denver was also pretty funny. And this article<\/a> on TDA has a lot of background information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.com\/2024\/09\/20\/wyoming-sheriff-bursts-out-laughing-at-venezuelans-ahead-billboard-at-colorado-border\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak told Cowboy State Daily he burst out laughing when he saw the “Venezuela Ahead” billboard at the Wyoming-Colorado border.<\/h6>\n\n\n\n

By Leo Wolfson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A large billboard designed like the Venezuelan flag warns drivers on southbound Interstate 25 as they enter Colorado that they’re entering the South American country instead of the state. (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A large billboard warns drivers along southbound Interstate 25 at the Wyoming-Colorado border: \u201cVenezuela Ahead, Be Prepared!\u201d on a color scheme that mimics the Venezuelan flag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is in reference to recent reports of a Venezuelan gang named Tren de Aragua taking over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, a large suburb of Denver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak said he burst out laughing when he saw the billboard for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI laughed when I saw it because billboards are effective,\u201d he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kozak bought a billboard ad<\/u><\/a> of his own in Denver in May, advertising Wyoming as a place where frustrated Colorado cops could come to work and where police are \u201cfunded\u201d and \u201cbreaking the law is STILL ILLEGAL.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston bristled at that billboard<\/u><\/a>, calling a mischaracterization of a small budget cut to the police department which he said would pose \u201cno impact to the department\u2019s public services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of his billboard, Kozak said he\u2019s received thousands of job applications and hired 10 new deputies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Venezuelans?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The new billboard is referencing rumors and reports that a violent Venezuelan gang had taken over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado, a suburb of Denver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A law firm the apartment complex hired to investigate the situation insists a gang did take over the apartment complex, while the Aurora Police Department and city officials there deny it happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kozak said he\u2019s heard conflicting reports about the situation and isn\u2019t sure what\u2019s true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former President Donald Trump mentioned these claims in his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris last week. At a campaign rally Wednesday, Trump doubled down and claimed that Venezuelans are \u201ctaking over large pieces of real estate in Colorado\u201d and that Gov. Jared Polis is \u201cpetrified\u201d and \u201cdoesn\u2019t want to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump also said he will soon visit Aurora, and that the entire city of 400,000 people has been taken over by Venezuelan gangs, which Mayor Mike Coffman also denies, but he welcomes a visit from Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBring it on. Come here. I’m excited for you to come here so I could show you that the narrative that is being presented nationally about this city isn’t true,” Coffman told Denverite on Thursday. “That there are no apartment complexes under gang control, that the city’s not under gang control, Venezuelan gang control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coffman did not immediately respond to Cowboy State Daily\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Colorado Public Radio, more than 40,000 new immigrants have come through the Denver metro area in recent years, many with pending asylum cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, the Colorado Legislature passed a law preventing law enforcement officers from arresting or detaining an individual on the basis of their immigration status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kozak said the billboard highlights some of the downfalls of passing these types of laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt might heighten the fact that what\u2019s going on in Colorado being a sanctuary state and Denver being a sanctuary city, there\u2019s problems that have arisen with that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kozak said he\u2019s spoken with law enforcement officers in Aurora and Denver about the growing Venezuelan gang presence in their area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI know the whole Venezuelan sanctuary city thing is going to cause problems,\u201d Kozak said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Laramie County Detention Center, a suspected Tren de Aragua gang member is now incarcerated but Kozak said he doesn\u2019t anticipate the same problems occurring in Wyoming as reportedly in Denver and Colorado.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re staying on top of it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe haven\u2019t seen anything like that pop up here and we\u2019re not going to let it happen in Wyoming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Who Did It?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The bottom of the billboard reads, \u201cPaid for by Clipper Properties LLC, Tim Mellon, Member.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Saratoga resident named Tim Mellon donated $50 million to the Trump campaign in May, the largest donation to the campaign. According to Vanity Fair, since the start of 2022, Mellon has poured in more than $125 million to Make America Great Again, the Trump-affiliated super political action committee, and $25 million to American Values 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s super PAC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A secretive billionaire, Mellon is the heir to the Mellon banking family and also was the biggest donor to independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy\u2019s campaign, which was dropped last month along with Kennedy endorsing Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Cowboy State Daily call to a Saratoga number associated with someone named Tim Mellon was not returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to BBC, Mellon has lived on a ranch in Wyoming since 2005.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wyoming Secretary of State\u2019s Office records show that Clipper Properties is registered to a law firm belonging to former state legislator and University of Wyoming Board of Trustees Chairman Kermit Brown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Cowboy State Daily contacted Brown at his office Friday, he declined to talk and communicated through his secretary that he doesn\u2019t own any billboards. Wyoming\u2019s opaque limited liability corporation laws allow attorneys and other third-parties to represent themselves as the registered agents for a business while cloaking the real people behind it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is pretty funny, and I think the recruitment billboard in Denver was also pretty funny. And this article on TDA has a lot of background information. https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.com\/2024\/09\/20\/wyoming-sheriff-bursts-out-laughing-at-venezuelans-ahead-billboard-at-colorado-border\/ Laramie County Sheriff Brian Kozak told Cowboy State Daily he burst out laughing when he saw the “Venezuela Ahead” billboard at the Wyoming-Colorado border. By Leo Wolfson […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wyoming"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8622,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8620\/revisions\/8622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}