Colorado Springs Club Q shooter's case heads to trial

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.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys had argued Wednesday over whether Anderson Lee Adlrich's actions were a hate crime. Aldrich, who is nonbinary and uses they and them pronouns, had visited Club Q at least six times in the years before the attack, witnesses testified. The venue has long been a sanctuary for the LGBTQ community in the mostly conservative city.

District Attorney Michael Allen told the judge that the evidence showed that Aldrich had a "distaste for LGBTQ community," pointing to an online posting of a rifle scope over a gay pride parade picture and use of gay slurs against others and while online gaming. Aldrich was forced to go the club by their mother, he said, while arguing the attack was inspired by a "neo-Nazi white supremacist" shooting training video Aldrich posted on a website they ran.

"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 lawyers pushed back against that notion by arguing that Aldrich was drugged up on cocaine and had taken multiple tablets of the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and the stimulant Adderall the night of the shooting. Drug tests from the hospital were destroyed, however. The defense also brought up Aldrich's mental health for the first time, showing photographs of pill bottles for drugs that Aldrich had been prescribed to treat mental illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. But defense attorney Joseph Archambault didn't say whether Aldrich had been formally diagnosed with any of those mental illnesses.

Archambault told the judge that what happened was "senseless, it was awful and it was tragic" but noted that Aldrich expressed remorse. He noted that most mass shooters who target a specific group post manifestos. That, he stressed, was not what Aldrich had done.

"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 didn't specifically address the hate crime debate, saying only that there was sufficient evidence for the case to move toward trial.

Appearing in the courtroom in an orange jumpsuit, hands cuffed, Aldrich had no visible reaction to the ruling after crying at times during the testimony. The 22-year-old faces more than 300 charges including murder and bias-motivated crimes.

Judge McHenry also ordered Aldrich to continue to be held without bond. McHenry agreed to delay the arraignment, anticipating that the defense will try to hire experts to see if Aldrich would qualify to enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. However, he warned Aldrich's attorneys that being under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol can not be considered the cause of insanity.

No trial date has been set.

McHenry had to decide only whether prosecutors have shown during this week's hearing that there is probable cause that Aldrich committed the crimes they are charged with in order for the case to move ahead to a trial. At a trial, prosecutors are held to a higher standard and must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt to convince jurors to convict defendants.

Unlike other crimes, hate crime charges require prosecutors to present evidence of a motive — that Aldrich was driven by bias, either wholly or in part.

Although Aldrich identifies as nonbinary, someone who is a member of a protected group such as the LGBTQ community can still be charged with a hate crime for targeting peers. Hate crime laws are focused on the victims, not the perpetrator.

The lead detective in the shooting, Rebecca Joines, testified that Aldrich posted the neo-Nazi video, which featured attacks on synagogues and mosques abroad, including on two mosques in New Zealand in 2019, on a website they administered. Joines said that Aldrich had not created the video, which has been posted by many others online, but that she believed they were seeking to emulate it with the attack on the club.