Colorado Springs Police Department
The 23-year-old shooter who killed five people and injured dozens more at an LGBTQIA+ club in Colorado faced a federal court Tuesday, pleading not guilty to federal hate crimes and firearm violations.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, Anderson Lee Aldrich was hit with more than 70 federal charges after the Nov. 19, 2022 attack at Club Q in Colorado Springs, in which Aldrich opened fire using an AR-15 style rifle. Aldrich, who is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to all 74 counts; 50 hate charges and 24 firearm violations, according to the Associated Press.
Aldrich told the Associated Press via calls from jail that among the “very large plethora of drugs” they were using at time of the shooting were steroids. They argued that accusations that the attack was motivated by hate were “completely off base.”