The guy who opened fire at an LGBTQ club in 2022, killing five people, was sentenced to nearly 200 years in jail after pleading guilty to various hate crimes and weapon offenses.
Kelly Loving, Raymond Green, Ashley Paugh, Daniel Davis Aston, and Derrick Rump were slain in a shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on November 19, 2022, according to PEOPLE and the Colorado Springs Police Department.
Anderson Lee Aldrich pleaded guilty to 74 hate crimes and firearms charges on Tuesday, June 18, and was sentenced to 55 consecutive life terms and 190 years in prison, according to a news statement from the Office of Public Affairs of the United States Department of Justice.
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According to the department’s statement, “Aldrich admitted to murdering five people, injuring 19, and attempting to murder 26 more in a willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated attack at Club Q.”
“Today’s sentencing demonstrates that the Justice Department is committed to protecting every person in this country’s right to live without fear of being targeted by hate-fueled violence or discrimination because of who they are or who they love,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement, according to the release. United States District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney imposed the sentence and chastised the gunman, who uses the pronouns they/them, for targeting a “community’s safe space.”
“This community is much stronger than you, stronger than your armor and weapons, and sure as hell stronger than your hatred,” Sweeney said, emphasizing the importance of their sentencing during Pride Month, an annual celebration of the LGBTQ community.
The gunman was already in prison for state charges to which they pled guilty in 2023 when the sentence was handed down. They received five consecutive life sentences in that case.
The 22-year-old shooter committed the killing on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, according to PEOPLE, citing authorities.
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Ashtin Gamblin, who worked at Club Q’s front door on the night of the massacre, spoke during the sentence. “There was no regard for my life, and there should be no regard for theirs,” Gamblin, who was shot nine times.
Some survivors claim that this is the “final chapter” of the rampage for them. “This should be the end of it, hopefully, but I guess it will never end for us,” survivor Ed Sanders told people.
Svetlana Heim, a former club employee, told the site that it seems like “the final chapter of a book.” It’s finished now. “Very final.” “This was one of the most violent hate-fueled mass shootings targeting the LGBTQIA+ community in our nation’s history,” stated Kristen Clarke, Assistant Attorney General of the US Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a press conference following the sentencing.
“Today’s sentencing should send a loud message,” she added. “We will not tolerate hate in our country and purveyors of bias-motivated violence will be held accountable for their actions.”