Judge sees enough evidence for Club Q shooter trial to proceed
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A shooter seemed to be driven by bias against the LGBTQ community in plotting an attack at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five and wounding 17 others, a judge acknowledged Thursday in finding that prosecutors showed enough evidence for trial on murder and hate crime charges.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys had argued Wednesday over whether Anderson Lee Adlrich’s actions were a hate crime. Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they and them pronouns, had visited Club Q at least six times in the years before the attack, witnesses testified. The venue has long been a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city.
District Attorney Michael Allen told the judge that the evidence showed that Aldrich had a “distaste for LGBTQ,” pointing to an online message of a rifle scope over a gay pride parade picture and use of gay slurs against others and while online gaming. Aldrich was forced to go to the club by their mother, he said, while arguing the attack was inspired by a “neo-Nazi white supremacist” shooting training video posted on a website Aldrich ran.
“We presented evidence regarding the defendant’s aversion to the LGBTQ community, evidence related to the defendant’s mother forcing him to go to a club against his will and sort of forced that culture on him,” said Allen, who consistently used male pronouns for Aldrich.
Allen said at a news conference that using the male pronoun was “unintentional.” But asked later whether he believed Aldrich was nonbinary, Allen said: “My belief has nothing to do with that so I am going to refrain. Again you can jump to your own conclusions as far as that goes.”
Aldrich’s lawyers pushed back against the notion that the crime was hate-motivated by arguing that Aldrich was drugged up on cocaine and had taken multiple tablets of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and the stimulant Adderall the night of the shooting.
The defense also brought up Aldrich’s mental health for the first time, showing photographs of pill bottles for drugs that Aldrich had been prescribed to treat mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Defense attorney Joseph Archambault told the judge that what happened was “senseless, it was awful and it was tragic” but noted that Aldrich expressed remorse. He noted that most mass shooters who target a specific group post manifestos. That, he stressed, was not what Aldrich had done.
“It doesn’t excuse it. It’s not a defense. It doesn’t change anything. But it is categorically different than the people who target a group and are unapologetic about it later,” Archambault said.
Judge Michael McHenry didn’t specifically address the hate crime debate, saying only that there was sufficient evidence for the case to move toward trial.
Appearing in the courtroom in an orange jumpsuit, hands and ankles shackled, Aldrich had no visible reaction to the ruling after crying at times during the testimony. The 22year-old faces more than 300 charges including murder and bias-motivated crimes.
McHenry also ordered Aldrich to continue to be held without bond. McHenry agreed to delay the arraignment until May, anticipating that the defense will try to hire experts to see if Aldrich would qualify to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
No trial date has been set.