A shooter seemed to be driven by bias against the LGBTQ community in plotting an attack at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs, killing five and wounding dozens of others, a judge acknowledged Thursday in finding that prosecutors showed enough evidence for trial on dozens of murder and hate crime charges.
On Wednesday, the prosecution and defense lawyers disagreed on whether Anderson Lee Aldrich had committed a hate crime.
Witnesses said that Aldrich had been to Club Q at least six times in the years before the incident. Aldrich is nonbinary and uses the pronouns they and them.
The location has long served as a haven for the city’s predominantly conservative Gay community.
A rifle scope was posted online over a photo of a gay pride parade.
Aldrich used homophobic slurs against people while playing online games, according to district attorney Michael Allen, who told the judge that this evidence demonstrated Aldrich’s “distaste for the LGBTQ community.”
He said that the attack was motivated by a “neo-Nazi white nationalist” shooting training video that Aldrich posted on a website they controlled and claimed that their mother had Aldrich go to the club.
“We presented evidence regarding the defendant’s aversion to the LGBTQ community, evidence related to the defendant’s mother forcing him to go to a club against his will and sort of forced that culture on him,” said Allen, who consistently used male pronouns for Aldrich.
Aldrich’s attorneys disputed that idea, claiming that Aldrich had used copious amounts of cocaine and many tablets of the tranquilizer Xanax and the stimulant Adderall the night of the shooting. Yet, the hospital’s drug tests were destroyed.
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The defense raised Aldrich’s mental health for the first time by displaying images of pill bottles containing medications that Aldrich had been given to treat mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
But defense counsel Joseph Archambault didn’t disclose whether Aldrich had been formally diagnosed with those mental conditions.
While noting that Aldrich had shown regret, Archambault told the judge that what had transpired was “senseless, it was awful, and it was tragic.”
He pointed out that most mass murderers who target a specific group publish manifestos online. He emphasized that Aldrich had not behaved in that way.
“It doesn’t excuse it. It’s not a defense. It doesn’t change anything. But it is categorically different than the people who target a group and are unapologetic about it later,” Archambault said.
Judge Michael McHenry stated there was enough evidence for the case to proceed to trial without addressing the argument over hate crimes.
Aldrich, who had occasionally sobbed during the evidence, entered the courtroom wearing an orange jumpsuit and was handcuffed. More than 300 charges, including murder and offenses motivated by bigotry, are brought against the 22-year-old.
According to Judge McHenry’s decision, Aldrich will continue to be detained without bond.
McHenry agreed to postpone the arraignment because he thought the defense could try to engage specialists to determine if Aldrich would be eligible to plead not guilty due to insanity.
He cautioned Aldrich’s attorneys, nevertheless, that using illegal substances or drinking too much alcohol cannot be used to prove insanity.
No scheduled trial date exists.
For the case to go to a trial, McHenry needed to decide whether the prosecution established during this week’s hearing that there is probable cause that Aldrich committed the crimes they are accused of.
To persuade jurors to convict suspects at a trial, prosecutors are pushed to a higher standard and must establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
In contrast to other offenses, hate crime accusations call for the prosecution to provide proof that Aldrich’s actions were partially or entirely motivated by bias.
Someone may identify as nonbinary, but members of protected groups like the LGBTQ community can still be accused of hate crimes if they target other community members.
Laws against hate crimes are centered on the victims rather than the offender.
Rebecca Joines, the shooting’s lead detective, said that Aldrich placed the neo-Nazi movie on a website they oversaw. The film included attacks on synagogues and mosques abroad, including two in New Zealand in 2019.
Jones claimed that the video, shared widely online, was not created by Aldrich and that she thought the attack on the club was an attempt to copy it.
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