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.”
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The federal charges come after Aldrich pleaded guilty in state court last June to five counts of murder and 46 counts of attempted murder–one for each person who was at Club Q during the attack. They were sentenced that same month to five consecutive life sentences, along with more than 2,200 years in state prison without the possibility of parole.
The federal charges follow an FBI investigation announced at the time after Aldrich’s state court sentencing.
While the death penalty is not possible under state law, it does exist for federal charges. While Aldrich’s case qualified, courts documents obtained by ABC News and filed on Jan. 9 by Aldrich’s lawyer and the Justice Department show a plea agreement struck by both sides “indicated” that prosecutors have taken the death penalty off the table.
“Among other provisions, the agreement provides that the defendant will plead guilty to every count of a 74-count Information charging him with federal hate crimes in violation of relevant provisions of the Shepard-Byrd Act, 18 U.S.C. § 249, and appurtenant gun crimes in violation of the relevant provisions of 18 U.S.C. § 924,” the court documents filed said.
“The United States is not seeking the death penalty in this case. The parties have agreed that multiple concurrent life sentences plus a consecutive sentence of 190 years imprisonment is sufficient but not greater than necessary to achieve the goals of criminal justice.”
Colorado Springs District Attorney Michael J. Allen said in June that he believed the threat of the death penalty was a “big part of what motivated the defendant” to plead guilty to state charges.
Jeff Aston, the father of victim Daniel Aston, told the Associated Press he had listened to the proceedings remotely and was surprised at the outcome.
“This was a hateful, stupid, heinous and cowardly act,” Aston said. “The closest thing to justice that I would like to see is that he has to suffer as much as the suffering he’s caused for so many victims and family members.”
