Gay club shooting suspect is non-binary

A suspect facing possible hate crime charges over the fatal shooting of five people at a gay nightclub in the US state of Colorado is non-binary, the suspect’s defence team said.

In court papers filed on behalf of Anderson Lee Aldrich on Tuesday, public defenders refer to the suspectinthecoloradosprings shooting as “Mx Aldrich”, noting that Aldrich, 22, is non-binary and uses they/ them pronouns.

The motions deal with issues like evidence gathering, not Aldrich’s identity.

Aldrich, who was beaten into submission by patrons during Saturday night’s shooting at Club Q, was scheduled to appear in court by videolink from jail for the first time yesterday.

Themotiveintheshooting is still under investigation, butauthoritiessaidaldrich faces possible murder and hate crime charges.

Hatecrimechargeswould require authorities proving that the suspect was motivated by bias, such as against the victims’ actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.