COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) – The suspect accused of walking into a Colorado gay nightclub wearing body armor and opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle, killing five people and wounding 17 others, was charged Tuesday by prosecutors with 305 felonies . counts including hate crimes and murder.
The counts against Anderson Lee Aldrich include 48 hate crimes, one for each person known to have been at the club at the time of the shooting.
Investigators say Aldrich, 22, walked into Club Q, a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city of Colorado Springs, shortly before midnight on Nov. 19 and opened fire during the celebration of a drag queen’s birthday. The killing was stopped after patrons wrestled the suspect to the ground and beat Aldrich into submission, they said.
Aldrich sat upright in a chair during Tuesday’s hearing and appeared alert. At an earlier court appearance just days after the shooting, the defendant collapsed – his head and face covered in bruises – and lawyers had to ask him to answer a judge’s questions.
The shooting came more than a year after Aldrich was arrested following a standoff with SWAT teams after authorities said Aldrich threatened to stockpile weapons, ammunition and body armor to become the “next mass murderer “. But the charges were dropped, the file is sealed and prosecutors say they cannot legally discuss what happened.
Of the 48 hate crime charges, 27 relate to injury and 21 to persons fearing injury or property damage. In addition to those killed or injured in gunshots at the club, police said five people had non-gunshot wounds and other victims had “no visible injuries.”
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At a hearing, prosecutor Michael Allen tells the judge they may seek additional charges against alleged Colorado Springs nightclub gunman Anderson Lee Aldrich as discovery progresses.
Aldrich had been arrested on hate crimes charges after the attack, but prosecutors had previously said they weren’t sure if those counts would stand because they had to assess whether there was enough evidence to show it was a crime motivated by prejudice.
District Attorney Michael Allen had noted that the murder charges would carry the harshest sentence, likely life in prison, but also said it was important to show the community that bias-motivated crimes will not be tolerated if there there is evidence to support the accusation.
Aldrich was formally charged Tuesday with 305 criminal charges, including hate crimes and murder. (December 6)
At a press conference after the court hearing, Allen declined to discuss what evidence prosecutors found to support the hate crimes. However, he said a recent change in Colorado law allows offenders to be charged with hate crimes, even if they are only partially motivated by prejudice.
“If it wasn’t for that change we probably wouldn’t be able to collect it in this case,” he said.
Judge Michael McHenry ordered the arrest warrant affidavit in the case unsealed Wednesday, over objections by defense attorney Joseph Archambault, who said he was concerned about the defendant’s right to a fair trial because of the publicity surrounding the case.
Aldrich is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns according to defense court records. They were arrested at the club by the police and have not made a statement or spoken about the incident.
Allen said the suspect being non-binary was “part of the picture” when considering hate crime charges, but did not elaborate.
“We will not tolerate actions against members of the community based on their sexual identity,” Allen said. “Members of this community have been harassed, intimidated and abused for far too long.”
Experts say someone who is non-binary can be charged with a hate crime for targeting other members of the LGBTQ community because hate crime laws focus on the victims, not the perpetrator. But bringing a hate crime case to conviction can be difficult, because prosecutors must prove what motivated the defendant, a higher standard than is typically required in court.
Prosecutors in Colorado will need concrete evidence such as statements Aldrich may have made about the shooting, said Frank Pezzella, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
“It has to be more than (they) shot Club Q,” he said.
According to witnesses, Aldrich first fired at people gathered in the club’s bar before spraying bullets across the dance floor during the attack, which came on the eve of an annual day of remembrance for transgender people lost to violence
Authorities have yet to explain why they did not try to seize the defendant’s guns last year under Colorado’s “red flag” law after Aldrich was accused of threatening to kill his grandparents if they objected to Aldrich’s plans to become a mass murderer.
Aldrich was booked into jail on suspicion of menacing and kidnapping, but it is unclear why charges were not pursued.
Doorbell video obtained by the AP shows Aldrich arriving at his mother’s front door with a large black bag, telling her the police were nearby and adding, “This is where I am. Today I died”.