Anderson Lee Aldrich, the mass shooter who in 2022 killed five people at an LGBTQ club in Colorado, has pleaded guilty to hate crimes, receiving an additional 55 life sentences on top of his existing five life terms.
Aldrich, responsible for the horrifying massacre at Club Q in Colorado Springs, had already been serving five life sentences for the attack, which also injured 22 people.
On Tuesday (June 18), a US district judge added 55 more life sentences and an extra 190 years to his sentence, after hearing how the shooter specifically targeted the LGBTQ community in their “safe place”.
“Stronger than you”
Condemning Aldrich’s actions, Judge Charlotte Sweeney said, “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.”
Noting that the added sentence was appropriate during Pride Month, Judge Sweeney as per AFP added, “This community is stronger than your armour, stronger than your weapons, and it’s sure as heck stronger than your hatred.”
What happened in 2022?
Aldrich, who had stockpiled a $9,000 arsenal over two years, targeted Club Q on November 19, 2022, using an AR-15-style assault rifle.
The massacre ended when two club patrons bravely subdued Aldrich until the police arrived.
Prosecutors revealed that Aldrich had expressed hateful and violent ideologies online, including anti-LGBTQ sentiments.
“The defendant used an online platform… to disseminate a manifesto purportedly authored by someone who committed a mass shooting earlier that year,” revealed the court documents.
“This link revealed predominantly racist and anti-Semitic beliefs but also the following statement, ‘Transgenderism, however, is a mental illness and should be addressed as such’.”
Death penalty
In a plea deal, federal prosecutors agreed to remove the death penalty option in exchange for Aldrich’s 74 guilty pleas — In the US, federal hate crimes can be punished with the death penalty.
(With inputs from agencies)
