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A sentencing statement filed Tuesday outlines why federal prosecutors filed hate crime charges against the shooter.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A new court document filed by federal prosecutors says the shooter who killed five people and endangered the lives of more than 40 others at an LGBTQ+ nightclub in 2022 had a history of bias-motivated speech.
The sentencing statement filed Tuesday outlines why federal prosecutors filed hate crime charges against Anderson Aldrich.
Earlier this year, Aldrich made a deal with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to 50 hate crime charges and 24 firearm violations in connection with the Nov. 19, 2022, shooting. Aldrich would get multiple life sentences in addition to a 190-year sentence under the proposed agreement, which needs a judge’s approval.
From January: Shooter who killed 5 people at Colorado LGBTQ+ club intends to plead guilty to federal hate crimes
According to the sentencing statement, the shooter had been at the club at least eight times before the shooting, including one visit about an hour and a half before the shooting.
The document says the shooter, who since their arrest has identified as nonbinary, shared anti-transgender views online. The shooter also used anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and expressed an interest in mass shootings, the document says.
The document says the shooter was fired from a job weeks before the shooting, in September 2022. Shortly after the termination, the shooter’s former supervisor, who is gay, “received a barrage of emails containing anti-gay slurs and commentary,” according to the document.
> Read the full sentencing statement:
Daniel Aston, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump and Raymond Green Vance were killed in the shooting. Seventeen other people were wounded.
The shooter was sentenced to life in prison last June after pleading guilty to state charges of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder — one for each person at Club Q during the attack.
From June 2023: Club Q shooter gets 5 life sentences, no parole for murder
The shooter also pleaded no contest to state charges for hate crimes under a plea agreement. The plea was an acknowledgment there was a good chance the shooter would be convicted of those crimes without admitting guilt. The pleas carried the same weight as a conviction.
Sentencing in the federal case is set for June 18.
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