KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Tennessee House Democratic Caucus Chair said he is still waiting for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to respond to a letter he sent after the bureau's director began a November budget hearing with a discussion about the Tren de Aragua gang.
John Ray Clemmons, a Democratic representative from Nashville, said he reached out to the bureau on Dec. 4 to ask questions about the gang and offer legislative and budgetary support.
"Because you prioritized a discussion of these issues before commencing your formal budget presentation, I assume these issues are the most pressing issues facing the TBI. Therefore, I write to pose a few follow-up questions to you in my legislative capacity for purposes of determining whether legislation or a budgetary amendment for the TBI would be helpful or necessary," the letter says.
Clemmons asked about the "trends and intel" that David Rausch, the TBI director, discussed in the hearing and why some people only recently learned about the gang after he said it returned to Tennessee two years ago. He also asked whether members were incarcerated in state or private prisons, and if the state could see violence from the gang due to competition in the drug trade.
The letter said, "Illegal immigration and violent crime are top concerns among Tennesseans, so if there is anything we, as legislators, can and should do to address the serious issues you raised, it is imperative that we have access to all available information in a timely manner."
The TBI said it received the letter and would "continue to discuss the Tren de Aragua gang with any and all stakeholders to answer their questions about the issue."
In the November hearing, Rausch began the conversation by saying the Venezuelan gang was operating "in every major city in our state." The gang made national headlines earlier this year when false claims about members of the gang taking over an apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, were posted on social media.
Rausch said in the budget hearing that the TBI's first run-in with the gang was in a 2023 human trafficking case. He said members of the gang were "trafficking females that they had abducted from Venezuela and brought them here." In the days following the budget hearing, the TBI also said it encountered another member of the gang during a Hamilton County sex trafficking operation.
That person was charged with patronizing prostitution, as well as drug charges and illegally having a weapon. Rausch appeared on a WGOW radio show after that arrest and said while "people's mindsets immediately goes to the reports of them overtaking apartment complexes," there had been no similar reports in Tennessee.
On the show, he reiterated that the TBI believes the gang operates in the state's four major cities. He also said most Tren de Aragua activity in Tennessee involved human trafficking. However, he said that the gang would "remain transient until they get comfortable" and said that the TBI learned from "peers throughout the country" that the gang could "move into various types of criminal activity if they get a foothold."
Out of 21 East Tennessee law enforcement agencies, 13 said they had not seen any activity related to the gang including the Knoxville Police Department and Knox County Sheriff's Office. The others did not respond to requests for information in November.
A statement sent in a release from Clemmons about his letter is available below.
“After Director Rausch made several concerning statements about Venezuelan gang activity and the prosecution of violent crime prior to his budget presentation, I sent a few follow-up questions to him and offered assistance with any legislation or funding needs for the TBI. It is pretty concerning that I have yet to hear back about an issue of such alleged importance after two weeks.
We Democrats are primarily interested in addressing the issues of concern to Tennessee families, and illegal immigration and violent crime are currently top concerns among many. So, if there is anything we, as legislators, can and should do to address the serious issues he raised, it is imperative that we have access to all available information in a timely manner.”
