Anderson Lee Aldrich has received 55 further concurrent life sentences consisting of 190 years after pleading guilty to federal hate crime charges relating to the shooting at Club Q on November 19, 2022. The 24-year-old is already serving five life terms in prison after opening fire at the LGBTQ+ venue in Colorado Springs, killing five people and injuring 19 others. Aldrich, who identifies as non-binary, pleaded guilty to the additional 74 charges at a hearing on Tuesday, June 18.
They admitted that they targeted Club Q in part “because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender identity” of its patrons and employees, as per the sentencing statement. “Fueled by hate, the defendant targeted members of the LGBTQIA+ community at a place that represented belonging, safety, and acceptance – stealing five people from their loved ones, injuring 19 others, and striking fear across the country,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said .
“The defendant’s mass shooting and heinous targeting of Club Q is one of the most devastating assaults on the LGBTQIA+ community in our nation’s history,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division added. “This sentence cannot reclaim the lives lost or undo the harms inflicted. But we hope that it provides the survivors, the victims’ families, and their communities a small measure of justice.
“Our message today should be loud and clear. No one should have to fear .