Hells Angels are not heading to Aurora, Colorado, to confront Venezuelan gang

In videos online, dozens of black-clad motorcyclists zoom across roads. Social media users say the bikers are bound for a community in trouble.

"Hells Angels head to Colorado to wipeout the Venezuelan gangs," read a Sept. 2 Instagram video. Another Sept. 2 Instagram post’s caption read, "Rumors are circulating that the Hells Angels & Mongols are heading to Colorado TO DEAL WITH THE ILLEGAL VENEZUELAN GANGS."

On Threads, a video posted Sept. 2 showed four lines of bikers taking up two lanes, claiming it showed Hells Angels and two other motorcycle clubs — the Outlaws and the Mongols — headed  "to confront the Venezuelan Gangs for taking over the apartment complex to protect the citizens of Aurora Colorado."

(Screenshot from Instagram)

These posts were flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

But the Aurora Police Department and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club rebutted these rumors. We couldn’t reach contacts for the Outlaws or Mongols.

Agent Matthew Longshore, a spokesperson for the Aurora Police Department, told PolitiFact "these rumors are false."

But the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club rebutted these rumors. We couldn’t reach contacts for the Outlaws or Mongols.

In a statement posted Sept. 4 on Instagram, the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club cited "a social media rumor" that the group was headed to Aurora, Colorado, to "violently confront Venezuelan immigrants."

Featured Fact-check

Facebook posts

stated on August 30, 2024 in a post

"Samsung drops out of $1 billion advertising campaign with Olympics."

"The HAMC strongly denies the foundation and validity of these absolutely ridiculous and false claims," the club said in the statement, abbreviating its name. "The HAMC does not involve itself in political issues outside of motorcycling and takes no stance on the issue of immigration or the presidential election," the statement read. "Motorcycle clubs ride in packs everyday, in every corner of America. There is nothing unique about such imagery."

The videos used to make the claims were also misrepresented. The Mongols Motorcycle Club uploaded the first montage of clips of bikers from two videos in 2010.

The video showing four lines of bikers also appears unconnected from the Colorado situation. PolitiFact found that it was originally posted July 7 on TikTok.  Hashtags in the video included "#insanosmc" and "#bondepelavida," which are references to the Brazilian motorcycle club Insanos MC and a motorcycle event called Bonde Pela Vida, held July 5-7 in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Video of armed men purportedly breaking into an Aurora apartment complex surfaced Aug. 28, but the mayor later said gang members do not control the complex. The Aurora Police Department said Aug. 28 that it was collecting evidence to show Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang implicated in the apartment complex incident, is linked to crimes in the area, but drew no conclusions.

"Based on our initial investigative work, we believe reports of TdA influence in Aurora are isolated," it said in an Aug. 28 statement. The department confirmed Sept. 4 that it arrested two documented Tren de Aragua members in July.

PolitiFact contacted the department but didn’t hear back.

We rate the claim that Hells Angels motorcycle riders are heading to Aurora, Colorado to confront a Venezuelan gang False.

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

UPDATE, Sept. 12, 2024: This story has been updated to include a statement from the Aurora Police Department.