The shooter who killed five people and wounded 22 others at a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub pleaded guilty Tuesday to 74 federal hate crime and weapons charges — and received an additional 55 life sentences plus 190 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney accepted 24-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich’s plea deal with federal prosecutors, which curtailed a drawn-out court process and allowed the mass killer to avoid the death penalty in the 2022 attack on Club Q.
But the judge made Aldrich admit for the first time that the shooting was bias-motivated, targeting victims due to their sexual identity or gender identity.
“You went to this community’s safe place and mass-murdered people, but I hope what you learned today is this community is much stronger than you,” Sweeney said, noting that she felt it was appropriate to sentence Aldrich during Pride Month.
Aldrich already was serving five life sentences plus 2,208 years in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and related charges in state court last year.
“The admission that these were hate crimes is important to the government, and it’s important to the community of Club Q,” federal prosecutor Alison Connaughty said.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Aldrich declined the judge’s invitation to address the Club Q victims and families present in the Denver courtroom.
People injured in the mass shooting and loved ones of those who didn’t survive took turns addressing Aldrich, many wishing death upon the killer.
“What I think you should do, because they won’t give you the death penalty, is to eat rat poison and then go to hell,” said Estella Bell, the grandmother of 22-year-old victim Raymond Green Vance.
In addition to Vance, Aldrich killed Daniel Davis Aston, 28; Kelly Loving, 40; Ashley Paugh, 35; and Derrick Rump, 38; after walking into Club Qjust before midnight on Nov 19, 2022, and opening fire as patrons screamed and ran for cover.
Club patron Thomas James, a member of the U.S. Navy, was the first to fight back, grabbing the rifle and wrestling Aldrich to the ground. James was shot in the chest during the struggle but kept fighting. He was eventually joined by another club patron, Richard Fierro, and together the pair disarmed and detained Aldrich until police arrived.
“I don’t believe they should be allowed to live”
During the emotional sentencing hearing, survivors and their family members described the night of the attack and how their lives were turned upside-down. The shooter tried to take out the queer community in Colorado Springs, they said, but people will continue loving who they want joyfully.
Members of the audience wiped tears from their eyes as witnesses shared their pain. Some wore clothing with sentimental value, such as concert merchandise purchased with one of the victims, or rainbow-colored accessories.
“I forgive you,” said Wyatt Kent, a drag queen who performed the night of the attack, addressing Aldrich. “We, the queer community, are the resilient ones, and we continue to hold that beauty within each other. We continue to find joy in the trauma and pain and, unfortunately, those are things you will never experience for the rest of your life.”
Jeff Aston, father of victim Daniel Aston, noted that he had to endure a Father’s Day without his son’s usual card and present.
“He was a good son and a good person,” Aston said, his voice trembling. “He certainly didn’t deserve to go this way. We can say all the words we want to defend this person, but they did that horrible act to my son and all the other people, and I don’t believe they should be allowed to live.”
Through tears, Ashtin Gamblin took to the lectern with her husband by her side. Gamblin survived the Club Q attack because of Daniel Aston, she said.
“I’m alive today because of him,” Gamblin said. “I was laying on the floor of a bar while my husband was over 5,000 miles away serving his country, and he got a phone call that I was shot. That’s not how that job is supposed to work.”
Gamblin, who said she was an ally to the LGBTQ community, advocated for Aldrich to receive the death penalty. Gamblin’s mother, Cheryl Norton, addresses Aldrich after her daughter.
“You have no right to speak,” Norton said, facing the killer. “You need to pay with your life. You have taken five souls away from these people, and it cannot be forgiven.”
Norton said she asked Daniel Aston to protect her daughter before they went out. Norton said Aston jumped in front of Gamblin to shield her from the bullets and that Gamblin lay in Aston’s blood after being hit to hide from the shooter.
Aston’s final words to Norton will forever haunt her, she said.
“He said, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll keep her safe,’ ” Norton said. “And he did, your honor. He did just that.”
“You can’t kill our love and spirit”
Federal prosecutors said in court filings that Aldrich expressed anti-LGBTQ rhetoric online before the mass shooting, sending a “barrage of emails containing anti-gay slurs and commentary” to a former supervisor, who was gay, after being fired about a month before the attack. Aldrich also shared a photo that depicts a rifle sight pointed at what appears to be a gay pride parade with the comment “lol” (meaning “laughing out loud”), prosecutors said.
Aldrich identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, defense attorneys have said. In state court, Aldrich told a judge they prefer to be referred to as “Mx. Aldrich.” Judge Sweeney referred to the shooter primarily as “Mr. Aldrich.”
The 24-year-old visited Club Q at least eight times before the mass shooting,apparently without incident.
State prosecutors expressed doubt about Aldrich’s gender and have said there is “zero evidence” Aldrich identified as nonbinary before the mass shooting. Federal prosecutors, on the other hand, referred to Aldrich with gender-neutral terms in court filings.
Aldrich has previously been prescribed medications used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression and mood disorders, prior court proceedings have shown.
In addition to the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, prosecutors said Aldrich amassed an arsenal in the two years before the attack, spending at least $9,000 on weapons-related purchases, which they said showed his careful planning.
Federal prosecutors noted that Aldrich visited Club Q about 90 minutes before the attack, and had a hand-drawn map of the club with entrances and exits marked, as well as a binder of training material entitled, “How to Handle an Active Shooter.”
“I’m sure the shooter thinks he took our spirit that night,” saidEd Sanders, who was shot in the back and leg. “You cannot destroy our community by killing individuals. You can’t kill our love and spirit.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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