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Anderson Lee Aldrich, suspect in the Club Q shooting, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to murder and attempted murder Monday morning.
Aldrich, who public defenders have said identifies as non-binary and prefers to be described with she/those pronouns, is charged with fatally shooting five people and injuring 17 others at Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ nightclub Club Q , Colorado, on November 19, 2022 .
The defendant, whom the judge called “Mx. Aldrich” during Monday’s arraignment hearing, accepted a plea deal to a life sentence without the possibility of parole in exchange for pleading guilty to five counts of first-degree murder. Aldrich also pleaded guilty Monday to 46 counts of first-degree murder.
Much debate has ensued as to what prompted the massacre.
COLORADO SPRINGS CLUB Q ‘NONBINARY’ SHOOT SUSPECTED AROUND NEO-NAZI SITE, USED HOMOSLURS ONLINE, POLICE TESTIMON
The defendant pleaded no felony and misdemeanor bias-motivated crimes. “Because of the evidence presented, I think there is a high probability of being convicted at trial on those counts, and so I’m advocating no contest or no contest,” Aldrich told the court on Monday, extending the plea for non-controversy. dispute explained.
In an interview from prison, Aldrich reportedly admitted to The Associated Press that he was using a “very large plethora of drugs” and abusing steroids at the time. base.”
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, appears smitten in a mugshot photo provided by Colroaod Springs police following the Club Q shooting. (Colorado Springs Police via AP, file)
In court hearings earlier this year, law enforcement testified that Aldrich ran a neo-Nazi website and used gay and racist slurs while playing online games, while the defense refuted that Aldrich’s sometimes abusive mother forced the defendant to attend LGBTQ+ clubs.
Two veterans at Club Q reportedly helped thwart the attack by disarming Aldrich, who was beaten by patrons and showed a bruised and bloodied face in his first mug shot and trial. Aldrich faced more than 300 state counts, including murder and hate crimes. The Justice Department is also considering filing federal hate crime charges, according to a senior law enforcement official who spoke to the AP.
People visit a memorial outside Club Q, the LGBTQ nightclub that was the site of a deadly 2022 shooting that killed five people, on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (AP Photo / Chet Strange)
Aldrich is said to have hinted at plans to carry out violent attacks at least a year before the attack on Club Q. In June 2021, Aldrich’s grandparents told authorities they had been warned not to get in the way of a plan to stockpile guns, ammunition, body armor and a homemade bomb to become “the next mass murderer”. Aldrich was subsequently arrested following a standoff with SWAT agents live-streamed on Facebook and the evacuation of 10 nearby homes, telling officers, “If they break through, I’ll blow it to holy hell!” Aldrich eventually surrendered.
However, charges against Aldrich were dropped in July 2022 after Aldrich’s mother and grandparents, the victims in the case, refused to cooperate with prosecutors and attempts to evade them with subpoenas to testify, according to court documents obtained after the shooting. unsealed. Other relatives told a judge they feared Aldrich would hurt the grandparents if they were released. showed.
Aldrich was then released from prison and authorities seized two weapons – a ghost gun pistol and an MM15 rifle – at the time of the arrest. But there was nothing to stop Aldrich from legally buying more firearms, which immediately after the shooting raised questions about whether authorities should have applied for a red flag order to prevent such purchases.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said it could not have sought a court order to stop Aldrich from buying or possessing guns because the 2021 arrest file was sealed after charges were dropped. There was no new evidence they could use to prove Aldrich posed a threat “for the foreseeable future,” the sheriff’s office said.
Club Q, the LGBTQ venue that was home to a deadly 2022 shooting that killed five people, is on display Wednesday, June 7, 2023 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. (AP Photo / Chet Strange)
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Investigators later revealed that the two weapons Aldrich had during the Club Q attack — the rifle and a handgun — appeared to be phantom weapons, or unserialized firearms that are homemade and do not require an owner to pass a background check, according to the AP.
Relatives and next of kin of victims are expected to speak at Monday’s hearing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
