Podcast: Arapahoe County Assistant DA Talks Operation Aurora

As Aurora braces for President Donald Trump’s proposed Operation Aurora, brand new Arapahoe County Assistant District Attorney Ryan Brackley is preparing for what’s coming. For the January episode of the Bucket List Community News Podcast, we spoke with Brackley about his thoughts on immigration in light of Trump’s promise to deport thousands.

Brackley, who has served in four DA’s offices in Colorado since 2005, is making his return to the public sector after owning his own successful private practice for over five years. Now, he’ll have to work around Trump’s proposed mass deportation of violent criminals to be carried out by ICE and federal agents in the county.

As a result of the influx of Venezuelan immigrants, Aurora has become a focal point for conservative politicians and media outlets. There are claims that the Venezuelan gang “Tren de Aragua” is carrying out gang activities in the city. Trump campaigned heavily on these claims, but Brackley says those claims are exaggerated.

“[I’ve been] keeping my ear on the ground since Trump made those comments,” Brackley said. “I’m listening to the folks who are on the ground in Aurora, the mayor, the city council, the police chiefs and police officers. I think there is certainly a lot of exaggeration and political rhetoric during [Trump’s] campaign…for political purposes.”

While Brackley and the Arapahoe County DA’s office won’t have any involvement in Operation Aurora or have the jurisdiction to prosecute any immigration-related crime, they do fear some of the unintended consequences of a mass deportation strategy. 

“We don’t prosecute immigration crimes, but we need to be aware of the collateral consequences of that work that we do,” Brackley said. “We have to be aware of whether or not that work that we do creates unintended consequences for someone’s immigration status or their ability to stay in this country with their family and their communities.”

Another unintended consequence of Operation Aurora that Brackley and his office will have to deal with is that undocumented citizens may be reluctant to report crimes for fear of being deported, even if they are the victims.

“One of the biggest concerns that we have at the local level is that it will tend to drive victims of crime into the shadows based on fear of the immigration consequences,” Brackley said. “We want victims of crime, witnesses of crimes, to be able to report crimes and speak to the law enforcement without immigration consequences. Something like Operation Aurora could have a devastating effect on our ability to do that.”

Brackley is relying on the prosecutors and deputy DAs in the Arapahoe County DA’s office to use their best judgment in order to mitigate as many unintended consequences as possible.

“That’s something that we ask our deputy DAs to pay attention to,” Brackley said. “To use their discretion in a way that is fair and appropriate that takes into consideration collateral consequences, particularly on immigration.”

Brackley also clarifies that his office will factor immigration status differently when handling higher or lower magnitudes of crime.

“Merely because there will be a collateral consequence having to do with immigration doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to act or proceed or handle a case in a certain way,” Brackley said. “It’s one of many factors. It should not be considered in crimes of violence than it should be in a lower level theft case.”

Brackley joined the 18th Judicial in January, citing his relationship with new Arapahoe County DA Amy Padden as the primary reason for leaving his private defense practice to return to public service. 

“The number one reason [I returned to the public sector] is I was drawn back to work for District Attorney Amy Padden,” Brackley said. “I saw a great opportunity to be part of something great in terms of building an office and collaborating with her and our community partners in making the 18th judicial district the best DA’s office in the state.”

Brackley and Padden, a Democrat, now lead the district attorney’s office in Colorado’s third-most populous county. Arapahoe County, which formerly shared a district with conservative-dominant Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties until Jan. 2025, is now the sole county encompassing the 18th judicial district after redistricting. 

Padden is the first Democrat to be DA in the 18th district in decades, and her staff is committed to serving the community.

“Miss Padden is very, very smart and she’s thoughtful,” Brackley said. “Most importantly, she listens. She listens to the community. She listens to what’s important to the community. She’s listening to the people in the office about what’s important to them and about what they need to do their job well.”

Something that Brackley and Padden have heard from the community are their concerns about safety in Arapahoe County, so they’ve made addressing public safety one of their biggest priorities. 

“We’ve heard a lot about the gang issues in the eastern part of [Arapahoe] County,” Brackley said. “We’ve heard a lot about juvenile gun violence in the metro area of Denver. Our main priorities is to focus on crimes of violence, on gang issues, on gun issues and juveniles with guns.”

To help accomplish their goals in addressing violent crime in the 18th district, Brackley says he plans to work with other DAs and staff in other offices throughout Colorado. Brackley says the key to success in a DA’s office is collaboration and he intends to do that.

“To me, the model of success in a DA’s office, in terms of focusing on public safety, has been to collaborate with our law enforcement agencies,” Brackley said. “Collaborate with our community justice partners, collaborate with the federal agencies and neighboring DA’s offices.  We are a part of a Front Range community with a lot of our issues.”

Brackley’s biggest goal while serving Arapahoe County as their assistant DA is to make sure the community members that he represents have a voice, regardless of their documentation status. 

“Our job is to keep the community safe,” said Brackley. “To keep the community safe, we need to give voices to citizens, whether or not they are documented or undocumented. [Our office] needs to communicate and be present in the community, educating people on what our role is.”

Listen to the full podcast episode to hear Brackley speak more in-depth on his journey through the legal world, public safety, Operation Aurora, his favorite courtroom stories and the JonBenet Ramsey murder investigation.