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Aurora, Colorado – A Jewish ‘slumlord’ facing criminal charges related to one of his apartment complexes has had them dropped by city officials. This comes after he hired a PR firm to spread claims that the violations were due to a Venezuelan gang taking over the complex.
These claims were amplified by conservative media outlets, including the NYPost, Daily Mail, and Fox News, as well as by various social media influencers on X/Twitter and even former President Donald Trump.
CBZ Management—owned by Rabbi Zev Baumgarten—oversees numerous properties across New York and Colorado.
Baumgarten was facing 81 charges related to code violations at his Aspen Grove apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado. These violations date back to 2020 and include rat infestations, sewage backups, and overflowing trash. Additionally, he faced two dozen charges concerning unlawful vehicles.
On August 13, the city shut down Aspen Grove due to unresolved code violations, displacing more than 300 residents, most of them recent Venezuelan migrants. Two other properties owned by Baumgarten, The Edge at Lowry and Whispering Pines Apartments, were also on the verge of closure. Both complexes primarily house Venezuelan migrants as well.
Originally scheduled for a jury trial on August 27, with a second date on September 5, Baumgarten’s legal team successfully pushed both court dates to a pre-trial conference on February 14, 2025, giving Baumgarten time to resolve the charges with Aurora’s prosecutors out of court.
However, Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman, a Republican who had previously labeled Baumgarten a ‘slumlord,’ announced last week that the city would now collaborate with Baumgarten to address the issues rather than move forward with the closures.
Since then, Aurora officials have dropped all charges related to Aspen Grove in exchange for Baumgarten selling, leasing, or making a ‘similar disposition’ of the property.
The dropping of charges against CBZ Management followed sensational claims made by Red Banyan, a Florida-based PR firm hired by Baumgarten’s management company, which put Aurora in the national spotlight.
The Founder and CEO of Red Bryan is Evan Nierman, who is Jewish. His LinkedIn shows that he worked for the prominent Israel lobbying group AIPAC.
Nierman appeared on the Armstrong Williams Show in 2020 to bemoan the spread of racism and antisemitism over the internet. However, it appears that Nierman—like the rest of the Jewish community—has become more concerned with antisemitism on the left in recent years.
In 2023 he released a book called “Cancel Culture Curse: From Rage to Redemption in a World Gone Mad” and even gave a sermon denouncing cancel culture at his temple.
On August 5, Red Banyan released a statement claiming that Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, had scared away property managers, leading to the complex’s severe disrepair.
These claims circulated further online with a viral video purportedly showing armed members of Tren de Aragua taking over one of Baumgarten’s other apartment complexes in Aurora.
Although NewsNation confirmed that the men in the video were members of Tren de Aragua, the Aurora Police Department found no evidence of the gang taking over the apartment complex.
Interim Police Chief Heather Morris stated, “We’ve been talking to the residents here and learning from them to find out what exactly is going on, and there’s definitely a different picture.”
Morris continued, “I’m not saying that there’s not gang members that don’t live in this community, but what we’re learning out here is that gang members have not taken over this complex…We really believe that they are sincere with this and we’re standing out here, and I can tell you that gang members have not taken over this apartment complex.”
The tenants of Aspen Grove filed a class action lawsuit against CBZ management for unsafe and unfit living conditions shortly after they were evicted in August. Residents of the apartment complex believe that the property managers were using reported gang activity as an excuse to avoid maintaining the buildings.
Aspen Grove was originally purchased in December 2019, and the city has documented a decline in health and safety standards at the complex since 2021.
Some online speculate that the claims of a migrant gang takeover at Baumgarten’s properties were a cynical hoax designed to exploit national anti-migrant sentiments and avoid a jury trial.
Right-wing shock jock Michael Peinovich took to X/Twitter to say that “Zev and Shmaryahu Baumgarten own CBZ management, which owns and operates the property. They filled the place up with illegals from Venezuela. Unsurprisingly it became a trash pile. The city came in to do code enforcement, which resulted in dozens of code charges against CBZ and the eviction of many of the tenants, who then filed a class action suit against CBZ.”
Peinovich continued, “At this point Zev Baumgarten started spreading the story that the building had been taken over by Venezuelan gangs sent by Maduro. It worked and he was able to get a court decision on his charges postponed until February and avoid a jury trial.”
Peinovich would finish by saying “Neither of these Jews is against immigration. They are happy to profit from it, as well as exploit the status of their tenants to avoid doing building maintenance. Then, when it catches up to them, they enlist the political help of braindead conservative buttgoys by screaming about Venezuelan gangs. Typical.”
While the specific claim that Tren de Aragua took over Baumgarten’s apartment complexes appears to be unture, there has been an increase in violence and gang activity in Aurora due to the influx of illegal migrants from Venezuela.
Last week, the city arrested 10 suspected Tren de Aragua members for various crimes, including assault and attempted murder.
Two of the suspected gang members were released from custody on $1,000 bond despite ICE requesting both of them be detained. However, deportation officers from ICE’s Denver office were able to track Nixon and Dixon down and arrest them, with both now being in federal custody.
Concerns over mass immigration have taken center stage in recent weeks with conservative influencers spreading claims about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio eating pets.
While the claims remain unsubstantiated, Haitian migrants have committed numerous crimes across the country. Last week, a Haitian migrant in Massachusetts was charged with molesting his 10-year-old neighbor in 84% White Mansfield Massachusetts.
