Colorado
Club Q shooter pleads guilty, sentenced to life in prison
Addressing murderer, judge speaks of ‘deepest malice of the human heart’
This article originally appeared in Colorado Newsline
The person accused of killing five people at an LGBTQ night club in Colorado Springs in November pleaded guilty Monday to five counts of first-degree murder and 46 counts of attempted first-degree murder and will spend the rest of their life in prison.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 23, was sentenced to five consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, per a plea deal. For the attempted first-degree murder charges, they were sentenced to 46 consecutive 48-year sentences, totaling 2,208 years.
“I intentionally and after deliberation caused the death of each victim listed in those counts,” they said in an El Paso County district court room.
The five people murdered were Daniel Aston, 28, Kelly Loving, 40, Ashley Paugh, 35, Derrick Rump, 38, and Raymond Green Vance, 22.
Aldrich also pleaded “no contest” to two hate crime charges, allowing them to avoid a factual admission of guilt. El Paso County District Attorney Michael Allen told the judge there is evidence that Aldrich targeted the LGBTQ club as a hate crime.
In an interview with the Associated Press earlier this month, Aldrich said they had to take responsibility for what they did but denied that the attack was motivated by bias and hate towards the LGBTQ community.
“When you commit a hate crime, you are targeting a group of people for their simple existence,” El Paso District Judge Michael McHenry said before handing down the sentence. “Hate crimes are worse than other crimes. Like too many other people in our culture, you chose to find a power that day behind the trigger of a gun. Your actions reflect the deepest malice of the human heart.”
Victims and survivors were able to address Aldrich in the courtroom on Monday.
Aldrich began shooting immediately after entering the club around midnight on Nov. 19, 2022. Patrons, including Richard Fierro, subdued and disarmed Aldrich, who has been incarcerated since then.
Fierro has been lauded as a hero and was recognized by Gov. Jared Polis at this year’s State of the State address. Fierro attended this year’s State of the Union as a guest of Democratic U.S. Rep. Jason Crow of Centennial.
Club Q’s Facebook page offered a statement before the sentencing supporting an “expedient resolution.”
“It is our hope that the deliverance of justice will allow victims and survivors to foster healing, find closure and begin to find peace,” the statement read. “It’s quite evident that the defendant deserves to live life in prison without possibility of parole, and we look forward to having justice delivered.”
It is still unclear whether prosecutors will file federal hate crime charges against Aldrich.
Colorado Newsline is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent source of online news. It provides fair and accurate reporting on politics, policy and other stories of interest to Colorado readers. Newsline is based in Denver, and coverage of activities at the Capitol are central to its mission, but its reporters are devoted to providing reliable information about the environment, health care, education, the economy, the justice system, the functioning of state government, and other topics that concern readers in all parts of the state, from Lamar to Dinosaur, from Durango to Sterling.
Colorado
‘Demon’ email from Colorado GOP ‘narrow-minded,’ LGBTQ Republicans say
Email from Dave Williams-led state party attacked LGBTQ community as ‘groomers’
This article originally appeared in Colorado Newsline
The Republican organization that represents LGBTQ party members said that a recent email sent by the official Colorado GOP, which characterized LGBTQ people as “groomers,” unfairly defines them and furthers an ideological rift in the party.
The email, which was sent on June 29, was “narrow-minded and pandered to the far right,” a statement from the Log Cabin Republicans of Colorado reads. “This rhetoric is an irritating splinter to the greater Colorado Republican Party & other common-sense voters in the state.”
The GOP email, intended for supporters with the subject line “Pride is evil,” featured an opening image in which the words “Pride Month” turn into the word “demon” — art actually created by a transgender artist — and accused LGBTQ people and Democrats of “indoctrinating children” and forcing “mutilation and chemical castration” on children.
“These degenerates want to violate our children and their innocence,” the email reads. “They want boys and girls to think they can change their biological sex and encourage them to suffer barbaric medical procedures that are irreversible.”
This is in reference to gender-affirming care for transgender children, which can range from social transition measures, puberty blockers, management of gender-affirming hormones and, in some rare cases, surgery. Gender-affirming care, which was the subject of a shield law enacted by Colorado lawmakers this year, has become a central issue for conservatives as they seek to restrict its availability.
Throughout the email, the Colorado GOP referred to members of the LGBTQ community as “degenerates,” “radicals,” “reprobates,” “predators” and “creeps.”
The Colorado GOP recently selected former state Rep. Dave Williams as its chair. Williams testified against civil unions for same-sex couples at the state Capitol in 2013. In 2020, he signed on to a bill to ban gay marriage in the state.
Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
It is unclear how many LGBTQ Republicans there are in the Colorado GOP. LCR Colorado, which is led by Valdamar Archuleta, wrote that the email reduces the chance that the state party could expand its membership to those other than its traditionally older, male base.
“Addressing these issues with care and refinement could have been an opportunity to reach out to young people, women, swing voters and moderate democrats growing weary of progressive politics. Instead, the presentation left many Coloradans feeling alienated,” LCR Colorado wrote.
Roger Hudson, a Castle Pines City Council member and deputy chief of staff for the Colorado House Republicans, agrees.
“This isn’t even about sexuality — this is really about welcoming people into the Republican Party,” Hudson said. “If we as a party are about inclusivity and about a bigger tent, then we must be welcoming. If we are about freedom and liberty, then we must stand for that. That doesn’t just mean on Sunday, when we go to church. That means every day, defending your right to say what you want to say, be who you want to be, and live the life you want to live.”
“It felt cartoonish and childish. It felt like (Williams) was talking about a figment of his imagination. There was no way to take it personally because to me it wasn’t based in reality,” Hudson said about the email.
Hudson was one of four Republicans who were reprimanded by Williams for signing on to a letter that objected to Montana House Republicans’ decision earlier this year to ban a transgender lawmaker from that state’s House floor.
LCR reiterated in its statement that it is supportive of parental rights to protect their children from “harmful premature medical procedures.”
“The Log Cabin Republicans of Colorado will continue to be outspoken in regard to safeguarding children, securing parental rights, and other conservative positions we firmly believe in,” the group wrote. “In the future we hope State leadership will find a more constructive path to help us all reach that goal.”
Colorado Newsline is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent source of online news. It provides fair and accurate reporting on politics, policy and other stories of interest to Colorado readers. Newsline is based in Denver, and coverage of activities at the Capitol are central to its mission, but its reporters are devoted to providing reliable information about the environment, health care, education, the economy, the justice system, the functioning of state government, and other topics that concern readers in all parts of the state, from Lamar to Dinosaur, from Durango to Sterling.
