Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22 years old, was identified as the shooter by a Colorado Springs official during a 10 am (CT) press conference. The number of victims is expected to rise as many gunshot victims drove themselves or were driven to the hospital by friends. The investigation was described as complex. No other details were released.
A gunman opened fire in a gay nightclub early Sunday, killing five people and wounding 18 in the latest mass shooting to befall the country in a year in which anti-gay rhetoric has been amped up among extremists.
Lt. Pamela Castro of the Colorado Springs Police Department said police received a report of a shooting at Club Q at 11:57 p.m.
Castro said there was one suspect who was injured and was being treated. She said it was not immediately clear whether he had been shot by officers. She said the FBI was on the scene and assisting in the case.
The suspect had the living shit beat out of him by at least two gay club patrons. That is why he is in the hospital.
The shooting at Club Q, which was hosting its regular Saturday evening entertainment at the time of the massacre, Drag Diva Drag Show, follows the hate-filled rants and cruel policies of haters such as Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump. The Drag Queens and Club Q dedicated last night's event to the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
Murdered transgender men and women experience some of the most extreme violence and excruciating painful cruelty-inflicted deaths at the hands of these deranged individuals. The violence at Club Q is yet another attempt to dehumanize people the perpetrators feel superior to.
A statement from Cub Q was posted on their Facebook page:
In June, 31 members of the neo-Nazi group Patriot Front were arrested in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and charged with conspiracy to riot at a Pride event. Experts warned that extremist groups could see anti-gay rhetoric as a call to action.
The previous month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his small Boise congregation that gay, lesbian and transgender people should be executed by the government, which lined up with similar sermons from a Texas fundamentalist pastor.
Is anyone surprised? Horrified, yes. This was inevitable due to hate-filled media that riled up the likes of the proud boys.
Example A: From Fox News.
Twitter users slammed the Associated Press as "ruining what little credibility they have left" for accusing right-wing critics of politicizing drag queen events for kids.
The AP "explainer" balked at the claim that these events were meant to sexualize or groom children.
"The art form has been cast in a false light in recent months by right-wing activists and politicians who complain about the ‘sexualization’ or ‘grooming’ of children," it read. AP worried this criticism was "obscur[ing] the art form and its rich history."
Ron Desantis's spokeswoman threatened irrational hatred and cruelty to gay people.
Calling the AP a Soviet newspaper, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis aide Christina Pushaw argued it became political when the left decided children should go to drag events.
"American Pravda, nobody used to care about this or have a problem with drag queens until YOUR PARTY decided that children need to attend and participate in explicit drag shows. You still have not explained why this is so important to you," she tweeted.
h/t from Denise Oliver Velez in the comments: