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Club Q Suspect Officially Charged With Murder & Hate Crime
The gunman has been formally charged with 305 counts.
The suspected Club Q shooter has now been officially charged with the murder of five people at the LGBTQ+ club in Colorado Springs.
On Tuesday, December 6, suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich was formally charged with 305 counts that include first-degree murder, assault, attempted murder, and "bias-motivated crime" (another word for "hate crime"). According to a report from CNN, Aldrich appeared wearing a prison jumpsuit in court as District Attorney Michael Allen detailed the formal charges.
Five people were murdered at Club Q on November 19: Ashley Paugh, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, Kelly Loving, and Raymond Green Vance. Nearly 20 other individuals were injured and sustained gunshot wounds.
As previously reported, a military veteran and a trans woman managed to hold down the gunman and slam the pistol down his skull in order to stop these senseless acts of violence against the LGBTQ+ community at Club Q.
Formally charging Aldrich with these counts is the first step in a long legal process that will lead up to a preliminary hearing and a subsequent trial. Alas, that preliminary hearing has been set for February 22, 2023, so there's still a long way for this process to go.
This new tragedy is very reminiscent of the 2016 Pulse shooting that took away the lives of 49 people in Orlando, Florida. These targeted acts of violence against the LGBTQ+ community are still happening in the U.S., and there's even been a rise of anti-LGBTQ rhetoric in 2022 coming from conservative politicians, influencers, and news personalities.
Our hope is that justice is served for the victims of Club Q and their loved ones.
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Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
