Anderson Lee Aldrich, the murderer responsible for the killing of five people at LGBTQ club, Club Q, in Colorado Springs on November 19, 2022, pleaded guilty to federal hate crimes and was sentenced to 55 life terms in prison today. Aldrich was sentenced under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
The 24 year old is already serving life in prison after pleading guilty to state charges last year. As part of today’s plea agreement, Aldrich repeatedly admitted “to evidence of hate.” Aldrich did not apologize or say anything to the victims’ families.
“The admission that these were hate crimes is important to the government, and it’s important to the community of Club Q,” said prosecutor Alison Connaughty.
Aldrich took the lives of five people and injured 22 others, and changed the course of the lives of those who were there that tragic night. Connaughty acknowledged that Club Q was more than just a bar, and Aldrich violated a safe and sacred space for the queer community.
“We met people who said ‘this venue saved my life and I was able to feel normal again,’” Connaughty went on to say. The sentence against Aldrich “sends a message that acts of hate will be met with severe consequences.”
The first openly gay federal judge in Colorado, U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney, listened to devastating testimonials from those present at the shooting before accepting the agreement, which also includes a total of 190 years on gun charges and other counts.
Several survivors of the attack, and many members of the community at large, have expressed their desire for Aldrich to face the death penalty, but capital punishment had not been sought by prosecutors. Sweeney explained that, instead, Aldrich’s life sentences mean that Aldrich will never get out of prison and will face “a miserable future, with a miserable end.”
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