Shooter of an LGBTQ club in the USA receives another 55 life sentences
A mass murderer who killed five people at an LGBTQ club in the US state of Colorado pleaded guilty Tuesday to hate crimes related to the horrific 2022 massacre and was sentenced to another heavy sentence.
Anderson Lee Aldrich has already served five life sentences for the shooting spree at Club Q in Colorado Springs, in which 22 people were also injured.
A U.S. district judge added 55 life sentences and an additional 190 years to that sentence after learning that Aldrich had specifically targeted members of the LGBTQ community with a $9,000 arsenal amassed over the course of two years.
“You went into the safe place of this community and committed mass murder, but I hope you learned today that this community is much stronger than you,” Judge Charlotte Sweeney said, noting that it was appropriate to sentence Aldrich during Pride Month.
“This community is stronger than your armor, stronger than your weapons, and certainly stronger than your hatred.”
In the United States, federal hate crimes carry severe penalties and those convicted face the death penalty. However, in exchange for Aldrich’s 74 guilty pleas, prosecutors have agreed to no longer impose that penalty.
Aldrich entered Club Q on November 19, 2022 and shot five people with an AR-15 assault rifle.
Two guests of the club eventually wrestled the stocky, bearded gunman to the ground and held Aldrich until the police arrived.
In court documents, federal prosecutors said Aldrich vented his anger online before the crime.
“The defendant used an online platform … to distribute a manifesto allegedly written by someone who had committed mass murder earlier this year,” the documents say.
“This link revealed predominantly racist and anti-Semitic views, but also the following statement: ‘However, transgenderism is a mental illness and should be treated as such.'”
– “No tolerance for hate” –
A week before the shooting, Aldrich posted a photo showing a visor over a gay pride parade with the comment “lol,” the document says.
Matt Kirsch, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, told reporters after the verdict that Aldrich had admitted what was behind the gruesome acts.
“As part of his plea today, the defendant admitted to committing hate crimes against members of the LGBTQIA+ community,” Kirsch said.
“I want to make it clear that we have zero tolerance for hate in this country and we have zero tolerance for hate crimes in Colorado.
“I hope that today’s verdict shows the victims and the many others affected by this cruel crime that we will not tolerate hate-driven violence against anyone.”
Defense attorneys have said Aldrich, 24, identifies as nonbinary. Federal prosecutors used gender-neutral terms in their motions, but prosecutors have reportedly said there was “zero evidence” the attacker identified as nonbinary before the horrific incident.
The Club Q shooting was the latest in a long line of attacks on LGBTQ venues in the United States. The deadliest attack was a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016, where 49 people died.
Members of the LGBTQ community have expressed concern about what they see as increasing hate rhetoric ahead of the hotly contested presidential election in November, in which incumbent Joe Biden faces a challenge from Donald Trump.
The rights of the LGBTQ community are a contentious issue in America’s so-called “culture wars,” which pit liberal values against those of conservatives.
Because the United States has more firearms than residents, it has the highest rate of firearm deaths of any industrialized country.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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