DALLAS — A video going viral this week showing a man being assaulted is being linked online to the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua, but Dallas police say the video is a year old.
Several local outlets have reported on the video, linking it to claims that a Venezuelan gang is taking over a North Dallas neighborhood.
However, Dallas police sources told WFAA that the video being circulated online is a year old, and shows an isolated incident not linked to gang activity.
But Dallas police officials did confirm, separately, that the department is investigating gang activity in the North Dallas area linked to Tren de Aragua.
"Our department is collaborating with other agencies to address possible crimes linked to this and other gangs in our city," Dallas police said in a statement.
More information about the investigation was not available.
Police sources told WFAA that the viral video incident from last year was determined to be an isolated incident and that the case is already closed.
The video in question was recorded in October 2023, sources told WFAA. The footage shows a man getting brutally beaten by a group of Spanish-speaking men. Gang unit officers investigated the incident and carried out enforcement at apartments in the Haverwood Lane area of North Dallas, police sources told WFAA. Police did not believe the assault was linked to gang activity.
The video was recirculated online Sept. 3 by Libs of TikTok, a far-right social media account. The post describes the group of men as "violent illegal alien gangs."
The account has also circulated information about the Tren de Aragua gang moving into a group of apartment complexes in Aurora, Colo. Three apartment complexes in Aurora have been the subject of national media attention amid claims they have been taken over by Venezuelan gangs. The claims stem from a video depicting people inside one of the buildings at the complex with guns.
Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman recently sought an emergency order to close the apartments citing them as a criminal nuisance, according to KUSA, the NBC affiliate in Denver. He also told KUSA that national media coverage is exaggerating the problem.
Residents of the apartments told KUSA the allegations of Venezuelan gang activity are untrue and have prompted people to travel to the complex and harass tenants. Aurora Police said they have not received any reports of harassment, but the mayor confirmed that erroneous reports related to the alleged gang activity are overwhelming the city's 911 system.
