Colorado gay club shooting suspect charged with hate crimes
Source: AP
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The suspect accused of entering a Colorado gay nightclub clad in body armor and opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle, killing five people and wounding 17 others, was charged by prosecutors Tuesday with 305 criminal counts including hate crimes and murder.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, sat upright in a chair during the hearing and appeared alert. In an earlier court appearance just a few days after the shooting, the defendant’s head and face were covered with bruises and Aldrich had to be prompted by attorneys to respond to questions from a judge.
Investigators said Aldrich entered Club Q, a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city of Colorado Springs, just before midnight on Nov. 19 and began shooting during a drag queen’s birthday celebration. The killing stopped after patrons wrestled the suspect to the ground, beating Aldrich into submission, they said.
Aldrich had been held on hate crime charges but prosecutors had said previously they weren’t sure if those counts would stick because they needed to assess if there was adequate evidence to show it was a bias motivated crime. District Attorney Michael Allen had noted that murder charges would carry the harshest penalty — likely life in prison — but also said it was important to show the community that bias motivated crimes are not tolerated if there was evidence to support the charge.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/crime-shootings-colorado-hate-crimes-springs-b9be567920a55986c57af59535ac9f61
Article updated.
Previous update -
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, sat upright in a chair during the hearing and appeared alert. In an earlier court appearance just a few days after the shooting, the defendant's head and face were covered with bruises and Aldrich had to be prompted by attorneys to respond to questions from a judge.
Investigators said Aldrich entered Club Q, a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city of Colorado Springs, just before midnight on Nov. 19 and began shooting during a drag queen's birthday celebration. The killing stopped after patrons wrestled the suspect to the ground, beating Aldrich into submission, they said.
Aldrich had been held on hate crime charges but prosecutors had said previously they weren't sure if those counts would stick because they needed to assess if there was adequate evidence to show it was a bias motivated crime. District Attorney Michael Allen had noted that murder charges would carry the harshest penalty -- likely life in prison -- but also said it was important to show the community that bias motivated crimes are not tolerated if there was evidence to support the charge.
Original article -
Investigators say Anderson Lee Aldrich entered Club Q, a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in this mostly conservative city, just before midnight on Nov. 19 and began shooting during a drag queen's birthday celebration. The killing stopped after patrons wrestled the suspect to the ground, beating Aldrich into submission, they said.
Aldrich, 22, had been held on hate crime charges but prosecutors had said previously they weren't sure if those counts would stick because they needed to assess if there was adequate evidence to show it was a bias motivated crime. District Attorney Michael Allen had noted that murder charges would carry the harshest penalty -- likely life in prison -- but also said it was important to show the community that bias motivated crimes are not tolerated if there was evidence to support the charge.
Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns according to defense court filings, was arrested at the club by police. They have not entered a plea or spoken about the events.
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Why else would he commit such a heinous crime? Maybe he didn't like their choice of music? 