WEEK OF OCTOBER 31, 2024
VOLUME 11 | ISSUE 41
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Douglas County sheriff’s Trump rally speech Pine Canyon ‘had nothing to do with race,’ Weekly says decision is delayed again Talks continue between developer, Castle Rock BY ELLIS ARNOLD AND MCKENNA HARFORD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
adding: “The Republican Party elected me to be the sheriff of Douglas County. (But) you will not find a (social media) post from our organization about politics.” At the rally, Weekly introduced himself as “the proud Republican sheriff of Douglas County.” Later, Weekly argued the sheriff ’s office isn’t a political space. “I represent all the residents of Douglas County. That has not changed because I gave a speech for President Trump,” Weekly told the News-Press, adding: “We try to stay away from politics at the sheriff ’s office.”
A potentially massive property development in the Castle Rock area has yet to get the green light from county leaders, and officials have again delayed the decision — this time until near the end of the year. The Pine Canyon proposal could put up to 800 single-family homes, up to 1,000 multi-family housing units, commercial space, and a hotel and “resort spa” near the middle of Castle Rock, according to a county staff report. But the property isn’t in Castle Rock. It’s in what’s essentially a hole in the town boundaries, south of Founders Parkway with Interstate 25 running through the middle. Town officials have presented a generally united front against Pine Canyon’s plan to develop outside of Castle Rock’s borders. They want to draw the land into the town’s map and bring it under Castle Rock’s control. “The town doesn’t believe Castle Rock (residents) should suffer the impacts of traffic, water, fire and other issues without the Pine Canyon development being annexed and paying its fair share of the impacts under town laws,” Melissa Hoelting, a spokesperson for Castle Rock, has said. County commissioners in September hit the pause button on whether to allow the development to move forward in order to allow county officials to meet with the town and Pine Canyon’s team to try to come to an agreement on annexing Pine Canyon into the town boundaries, Commissioner George Teal has said.
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Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly stands on stage at a rally for former President Donald Trump on Oct. 11 in Aurora. Weekly spoke about conSCREENSHOT OF VIDEO FROM RIGHT SIDE BROADCASTING NETWORK ON YOUTUBE cerns surrounding crime and immigration.
Darren Weekly talks about immigration and crime at Aurora event BY ELLIS ARNOLD EARNOLD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
On a stage with the words “Deport Illegals Now” behind him, Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly spoke at a rally for former President Donald Trump, praising him and emphasizing concerns surrounding migrant people and crime. “The Harris-Biden administration have turned their backs on law enforcement. President Donald J. Trump will bring law
and order back to America,” Weekly said in his remarks. He added: “We need to make America great again.” Trump’s rally took place in Aurora, a suburb thrust into the national spotlight amid claims that it had become a “migrant gang war zone” and that areas in the city have been taken over — a narrative that the former president has pushed. The Republican candidate’s rhetoric has continued despite Aurora officials attempting to combat it. “I will rescue Aurora and every town that has been invaded and conquered,” Trump said at the rally. In remarks at the event, the Douglas County sheriff fo-
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cused on immigration, standing next to mug shots of alleged gang members printed with the heading: “Occupied America.” “Some of these migrants are hardened criminals. They’re sex offenders, they’re murderers and they’re members of transnational criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua,” Weekly said. Days after the rally, Weekly told the Douglas County News-Press that “it’s critical that people know that my speech and my comments had nothing to do with race.” “It had everything to do with public safety. I’m the elected sheriff, so I go through a primary process,” Weekly said,
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