DENVER — Just after 7 a.m. Wednesday, people were taken from Cedar Run Apartments in handcuffs as part of a Denver metro-wide federal operation.
Denver7 Investigator Natalie Chuck, who was first at the scene Wednesday, said detainees were apparently escorted to a bus parked outside the complex. She saw U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents going into the building yelling, "We have a warrant" in full gear.
Outside the complex, Chuck talked with Hannah Scickilne, a 14-year resident of the complex, about her experience during the federal law enforcement operation.
“First, I woke up to a message in our chat group, saying that cops were going door to door, banging," Scickilne told Denver7. "And then just a few minutes later, I got a bang on my door and it was ICE. It was about six of them. They were all heavily armed and demanding ID from me and asking me to snitch on my neighbors.”
Chuck observed a group of immigration advocates across the street from the complex, who were using megaphones to communicate with residents inside. The group chanted, "Do not open your doors" and "Do not answer their questions."
“I was expecting this to happen and not just because we do have immigrants here, but because this place has a reputation and its name has been put out there as a dangerous place, which it isn’t," Scickilne said.
Denver7 Investigates has had their eyes on the Cedar Run Apartments for months after tenants came forward with concerns about conditions. Denver's mayor deemed it a crime hotspot nine months ago and promised resources to address the problem.
The DEA Rocky Mountain Division said there have been three fentanyl deaths at the complex in the last month.
Scickilne told Denver7 that "immigrants are not the issue" at the building.
“It is the conditions and it is an absent landlord, which is why we are now in this situation — because we have someone who clearly doesn’t care about the property or tenants,” she said.
This was one of four immigration enforcement operations at at least four Denver metro area locations on Wednesday. Denver7 also learned an ICE operation took place at the now-infamous Edge of Lowry apartments in Aurora, one in a set of derelict properties that have been in the spotlight amid a months-long controversy over the presence of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua in the city.
Local
TdA targeted in large-scale federal operation across the Denver metro: ICE
Federal sources told Denver7 Investigates they had obtained warrants for all of Wednesday's operations.
“What I want people to know is that I love my immigrant neighbors and this is all caused by a negligent absentee landlord who is using these poor people as a scapegoat because he does not want to take care of his own property,” Scickilne said.
Denver7 is continuing to cover these operations around the metro area.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.