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The shooter who killed five and injured 17 others during a 2022 attack on a Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ club was charged Tuesday with 50 counts of federal hate crimes.
Anderson Lee Aldrich, 23, had already been sentenced to life in prison last year after pleading guilty in June to five counts of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder in connection with the 19 November 2022 massacre at Club Q. Powerful victim impact statements before a Colorado Springs court described how Aldrich opened fire at the club before being overpowered by patrons.
Killed in the attack were Daniel Aston, 28, and Derrick Rump, 38, Kelly Loving, 40; Ashley Paugh, 35; and Raymond Green Vance, 22.
Aldrich on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to the 50 hate crime charges and additional 24 firearms violations, which followed an FBI investigation confirmed after Aldrich’s sentencing in state court – where he also pleaded guilty to state bias-based crime charges, AP reported.
“At the time, District Attorney Michael Allen said the threat of the death penalty in the federal system was a ‘big part of what motivated the defendant’ to plead guilty to state charges,” AP reported.
The Independent has reached out to the Department of Justice for comment.
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