Latest news with #MichaelBenisty
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Migrant gang-plagued city unveils bizarre 'Ozempic Statue of Liberty' in bid to rebuild reputation
A bizarre new 'Statue of Liberty' that is distinctively thinner than the original has gone on display in a migrant gang-plagued city. The 58-foot-tall chrome statue named 'Liberty' was unveiled Tuesday in Aurora, Colorado, where members of the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) took over for more than a year. Developers specifically placed the sculpture in the city in a bid to attract both locals and tourists to the area and rebuild its reputation. The statue, created by Belgian artist Michael Benisty, was originally unveiled at the 2024 Burning Man festival in Nevada, but The Aurora Highlands, a newly developed community in the city, recently acquired it for its park. The massive art piece weighs a whopping 37,000 pounds and had to be installed with the help of two cranes. It sits in an undeveloped location, but will eventually greet those accessing the area from Interstate 70, KDVR reported. Carla Ferreira, the CEO of The Aurora Highlands, said the sculpture was brought in because 'liberty is something that really resonates with people' and welcomes all to the area. 'It's not just the magnitude of the piece, but also the chrome finish is really beautiful because you can see yourself in it,' Ferreira told the outlet. Many have questioned if this is truly what the crime-ridden city needs right now, but according to Ferreria, public art is required for new developments. 'This is done through the district here at Aurora Highlands, so it wasn't something that the state paid for or that the city paid for,' she explained. 'This is done with taxpayer dollars from this area, but it's also like a nonprofit entity.' Soon after its installation, several locals and visitors made their way to the area to check it out. 'We just went on Google Maps. It's the first thing that popped up,' Ronnie Cordova, who traveled from New York to Denver, said. Robert Meeks, a Denver local and photographer, said he heard about the newest addition on Nextdoor. 'People need to see some beauty, and I think the beauty in this piece here is here for everybody to see,' Meeks added. While some are pleased with the new piece, others have been left livid. 'The audacity to place that statue in Aurora! We all know it's your declaration to illegals that they are welcome in Colorado,' on commentator wrote online. 'Imagine destroying an entire state with taxes, crime, drugs, homelessness & a constitutional crisis, then virtue-signaling that it's somehow 'liberty",' another said. The park itself, which opened in the Summer of 2023, has already seen more than a million clicks on Google Maps, Ferreira said. Another statue, also designed by Benisty, was added to the mix as well. A 14-foot-tall structure called 'In Every Lifetime I Will Find You' shows a steel sculpture of a couple embracing each other. In September, court documents revealed that the TdA gang took over an apartment complex in Aurora for more than a year. The criminal Venezuelan group had a 'stranglehold' on the Whispering Pines Apartments in Aurora since late 2023, the law firm Perkins Coie claimed in a letter to Aurora officials. The firm found that the gang has engaged in assaults, threats of murder, extortion and even child prostitution, as reported by CBS News Colorado. The vacant units have reportedly been used to host 'parties' where the gang provides 'drug and child prostitution,' according to the apartments' manager, who added that 'minors are a good source of money.' previously obtained city records where top staffers in Aurora admitted three rental properties 'are in complete control' of TdA and claim that many more than just three properties are victims of the 'criminal infestation.' Earlier this month, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Colorado is the latest state facing a lawsuit from President Donald Trump's Justice Department over their sanctuary city laws and policies. The administration is suing Colorado and the city of Denver claiming that both the state and local governments interfered with federal immigration enforcement. 'The United States has well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority to regulate immigration matters,' the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Denver, read. The DOJ has filed lawsuits in Chicago and Rochester, New York challenging the cities' so-called sanctuary policies. A 'sanctuary city' refers to jurisdictions where state and local policies either shield or protect migrants without legal US status from federal laws that require they be detained or deported. Specifically these states and cities are accused of limiting cooperation between their areas and the federal government and in extreme cases prohibit law enforcement and officials from turning over information about legal status of those illegal immigrants picked up for crimes. In the filing, Bondi said Denver and the entire state of Colorado is in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution due their sanctuary laws.
Axios
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Giant, stainless steel Lady Liberty coming to Aurora
Aurora will soon be home to a towering and contemporary take on the iconic Statue of Liberty. Zoom in: The 58-foot sculpture called "Liberty" by artist Michael Benisty will be installed Tuesday at Hogan Park at Highlands Creek, the latest addition to the green space's physically imposing permanent art collection. State of play: The polished stainless steel work with a mirrored finish debuted at Burning Man last year. The piece will include a companion poem and will be the second work by Benisty displayed at Hogan Park, joining a 25-foot-tall sculpture called "Broken but Together." Carla Ferreira, CEO of The Aurora Highlands, said in a statement after seeing the piece at Burning Man that it "belonged" in Aurora.
