Aurora officials can no longer deny ugly truth of Tren de Aragua takeover

Denial’s not just a river in Egypt: The go-to game plan for leaders who are hell-bent on ignoring the effects of Harris-Biden administration’s border crisis has been to pretend that the gangbangers who are wreaking havoc in their communities have unknown origins.

That strategy fell apart Wednesday in Aurora, Colo., when federal law enforcement sources confirmed to The Post that one of the men in a group of armed thugs caught on video breaking into an apartment is an admitted member of Tren de Aragua.

So much for Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain’s claim to reporters that cops hadn’t found ties to any gangs among the suspects, and city officials’ larger vehement denial that Aurora has a migrant gang problem.

Local authorities don’t want to look overwhelmed by admitting that a gang has taken control of their city.

Democrats are determined to run cover for the Harris-Biden administration, whose border fiasco has enabled Tren’s explosive rise in blue cities.

The media is happy to buy the lie, since their main goal through Election Day is to smooth Kamala Harris’ path to the White House.

But the facts won’t budge: Aurora has been absorbing the unhappy consequences of close proximity to sanctuary city Denver for the past two years.

As migrants poured into Aurora, TDA ‘bangers began setting up shop in dilapidated apartment complexes — forcing staff to flee, collecting “rent” by threatening residents and committing violent robberies, shootings and assaults.

Even after video footage of the now-confirmed Tren member and his fellow goons stalking through one of the Aurora complexes went viral, Gov. Jared Polis’ office called TDA’s takeover “a feature of [City Councilwoman] Danielle Jurinsky’s imagination.”

Jurinsky was among the only local officials sounding the alarm on the gang, even after Tren shot-caller Jhonardy Jose Pacheco-Chirino, a.k.a “Cookie,” viciously beat a man at one of the gang-occupied complexes last November, then was arrested this July for a shooting that wounded two men at the same complex.

As recently as Sept. 6, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman was insisting that “gangs are not in control of either complex.”

Aurora police bigs have also been stubbornly denying Tren de Aragua’s proliferation.

In late August, the city’s police union president, Marc Sears, called it “absolutely inaccurate” to say TDA was taking over the city, insisting: “They’re not any different than any other documented gang that we have.”

Are other gangs terrorizing entire apartment complexes in Aurora?

Worse, police threw locals to the wolves.

Residents of the complexes claimed that their 911 calls were ignored, and, in one case, an officer reportedly asked a resident if she had considered moving when she called to report a shooting.

The message couldn’t be more clear: You’re on your own.

Every level of authority in Aurora left residents to fend for themselves as gangbangers swarmed in.

Leaders of sanctuary cities, and their unlucky neighbors, have two options: Keep playing pretend and covering for Kamala — or face reality and kick TDA to the curb.