Owner of gay club: Shootg amid a new 'type of hate' | AP News

Contents:

• COLORADO GAY CLUB SHOOTG SPECT CHARGED WH HATE CRIM
• GUNMAN KILLED 5 AT COLORADO SPRGS GAY CLUB BEFORE BEG SUBDUED BY PATRONS, POLICE SAY
• OWNER OF GAY CLUB: SHOOTG AMID A NEW ‘TYPE OF HATE’
• SHOOTG AT COLORADO SPRGS GAY CLUB LEAV 5 AD, 18 JURED; SPECT CTODY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 20, 2022 UPDATED 6:34PM COLORADO FOX 5 NY SHARE COPY LK EMAIL FACEBOOK TWTER LKEDIN REDD GUNMAN KILLS 5 AT COLORADO GAY CLUB, IS SUBDUED BY PATRONS POLICE SAY A 22-YEAR-OLD GUNMAN OPENED FIRE AT A GAY NIGHTCLUB COLORADO SPRGS, KILLG FIVE PEOPLE AND LEAVG 25 JURED BEFORE HE WAS SUBDUED BY "HEROIC" PATRONS. COLORADO - A 22-YEAR-OLD GUNMAN OPENED FIRE SI A GAY NIGHTCLUB COLORADO SPRGS, KILLG FIVE PEOPLE AND LEAVG 25 JURED BEFORE HE WAS SUBDUED BY "HEROIC" PATRONS AND ARRTED BY POLICE WHO ARRIVED WH MUT, THORI SAID SUNDAY. TWO FIREARMS, CLUDG A "LONG RIFLE," WERE FOUND AT CLUB Q AFTER THE SATURDAY NIGHT SHOOTG, SAID POLICE CHIEF ADRIAN VASQUEZ. ON S FACEBOOK PAGE, THE CLUB LLED A "HATE ATTACK." INVTIGATORS WERE STILL TERMG A MOTIVE AND WHETHER TO PROSECUTE AS A HATE CRIME, SAID EL PASO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MICHAEL ALLEN. CHARG AGAST THE SPECT "WILL LIKELY CLU FIRST-GREE MURR," HE SAID. POLICE INTIFIED THE GUNMAN AS ANRSON LEE ALDRICH, WHO WAS CTODY AND BEG TREATED FOR JURI. ANTI-GUN VLENCE RALLY HELD AT STONEWALL INN AFTER COLORADO SHOOTG MEMBERS OF THE LGBTQ MUNY AND BEYOND GATHERED AT THE STONEWALL INN ON SUNDAY AS A SERVICE ORIGALLY TEND FOR THE TRANS DAY OF REMEMBRANCE TURNED TO ONE THAT ALSO MEMORIALIZED THE VICTIMS OF A MASS SHOOTG AT A GAY CLUB COLORADO THAT LEFT 5 AD AND DOZENS JURED. A MAN WH THAT NAME WAS ARRTED 2021 AFTER HIS MOTHER REPORTED HE THREATENED HER WH A HOMEMA BOMB AND OTHER WEAPONS, THORI SAID. THEY CLED TO ELABORATE ON THAT ARRT. NO EXPLOSIV WERE FOUND, THORI SAID AT THE TIME, AND THE GAZETTE COLORADO SPRGS REPORTED THAT PROSECUTORS DID NOT PURSUE ANY CHARG AND THAT RERDS WERE SEALED. A MAKHIFT MEMORIAL IS SET UP NEAR CLUB Q ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022 COLORADO SPRGS, COLORADO. AN ATTACKER OPENED FIRE A GAY NIGHTCLUB LATE SATURDAY NIGHT KILLG FIVE PEOPLE AND WOUNDG AT LEAST 25, OFFICIALS SAID. THE CLUB SAID THE SPECT WAS EXPAND CLUB Q IS A GAY AND LBIAN NIGHTCLUB THAT FEATUR A "DRAG DIVA DRAG SHOW" ON SATURDAYS, ACRDG TO S WEBSE. BLOOD STAED CLOTHG IS SEEN ON THE GROUND NEAR CLUB Q, AN LGBTQ NIGHTCLUB COLORADO SPRGS, COLORADO, ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022. - AT LEAST FIVE PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND 18 WOUND A MASS SHOOTG AT AN LGBTQ NIGHTCLUB THE US CY OF COLORADO SP EXPAND DRAG EVENTS HAVE BEE A FOC OF ANTI-LGBTQ RHETORIC AND PROTTS RECENTLY AS OPPONENTS, CLUDG POLICIANS, HAVE PROPOSED BANNG CHILDREN OM THEM, FALSELY CLAIMG THEY'RE ED TO "GROOM" CHILDREN. "CLUB Q IS VASTATED BY THE SENSELS ATTACK ON OUR MUNY," THE CLUB POSTED ON S FACEBOOK PAGE. IT SAID S PRAYERS WERE WH VICTIMS AND FAI, AND "WE THANK THE QUICK REACTNS OF HEROIC CTOMERS THAT SUBDUED THE GUNMAN AND END THIS HATE ATTACK." AUTHORI WERE LLED TO CLUB Q AT 11:57 P.M. SATURDAY WH A REPORT OF A SHOOTG, AND THE FIRST OFFICER ARRIVED AT MIDNIGHT. JOSHUA THURMAN SAID HE WAS THE CLUB WH ABOUT TWO DOZEN OTHER PEOPLE AND WAS DANCG WHEN THE SHOTS BEGAN. HE IALLY THOUGHT WAS PART OF THE MIC, UNTIL HE HEARD ANOTHER SHOT AND SAID HE SAW THE FLASH OF A GUN MUZZLE. THURMAN, 34, SAID HE RAN WH ANOTHER PERSON TO A DRSG ROOM WHERE SOMEONE ALREADY WAS HIDG. THEY LOCKED THE DOOR, TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS AND GOT ON THE FLOOR BUT ULD HEAR THE VLENCE UNFOLDG, CLUDG THE GUNMAN GETTG BEATEN UP, HE ADD. "I ULD HAVE LOST MY LIFE — OVER WHAT? WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE?" HE SAID AS TEARS RAN DOWN HIS CHEEKS. "WE WERE JT ENJOYG OURSELV. WE WEREN’T OUT HARMG ANYONE. WE WERE OUR SPACE, OUR MUNY, OUR HOME, ENJOYG OURSELV LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE DO." TYLER JOHNSTON, RIGHT, FORTS HIS IEND JOSHUA THURMAN AT A MAKHIFT MEMORIAL NEAR CLUB Q ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022 COLORADO SPRGS, COLORADO. THURMAN WAS SI THE NIGHTCLUB WHEN THE SHOOTG HAPPENED. AN ATTACKER OPENED FIRE A GAY NIGHTCLUB EXPAND THE GUNMAN WAS NONTED BY "AT LEAST TWO HEROIC PEOPLE" WHO FOUGHT AND SUBDUED THE SPECT, VASQUEZ SAID. "WE OWE THEM A GREAT BT OF THANKS," HE ADD. DETECTIV ALSO WERE EXAMG WHETHER ANYONE HAD HELPED ALDRICH BEFORE THE ATTACK, VASQUEZ SAID. OF THE 25 JURED, AT LEAST SEVEN WERE CRIL NDN, THORI SAID. SOME WERE HURT TRYG TO FLEE, AND WAS UNCLEAR IF ALL OF THE VICTIMS WERE SHOT, A POLICE SPOKPERSON SAID. THE SHOOTG REKDLED MEMORI OF THE 2016 MASSACRE AT THE PULSE GAY NIGHTCLUB ORLANDO, FLORIDA, THAT KILLED 49 PEOPLE. COLORADO HAS EXPERIENCED SEVERAL MASS KILLGS, CLUDG AT COLUMBE HIGH SCHOOL 1999, A MOVIE THEATER SUBURBAN DENVER 2012 AND AT A BOULR SUPERMARKET LAST YEAR. IT WAS THE SIXTH MASS KILLG THIS MONTH AND ME A YEAR WHEN THE NATN WAS SHAKEN BY THE ATHS OF 21 A SCHOOL SHOOTG UVAL, TEXAS. ATTORNEY GENERAL MERRICK GARLAND WAS BRIEFED ON THE SHOOTG AND THE FBI WAS ASSISTG POLICE WH THE VTIGATN. A SIGN HANGS OM A FENCE NEAR CLUB Q, AN LGBTQ NIGHTCLUB, COLORADO SPRGS, COLORADO, ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022. - AT LEAST FIVE PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND 18 WOUND A MASS SHOOTG AT AN LGBTQ NIGHTCLUB THE US CY OF COLORADO SPRGS, POLICE SAID EXPAND PRINT JOE BIN SAID THAT WHILE THE MOTIVE FOR THE SHOOTGS WAS NOT YET CLEAR, "WE KNOW THAT THE LGBTQI+ MUNY HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO HORRIFIC HATE VLENCE RECENT YEARS." "PLAC THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SAFE SPAC OF ACCEPTANCE AND CELEBRATN SHOULD NEVER BE TURNED TO PLAC OF TERROR AND VLENCE," HE SAID. "WE NNOT AND MT NOT TOLERATE HATE." COLORADO GOV. JARED POLIS, WHO BEME THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN THE UNED STAT TO BE ELECTED ERNOR 2018, LLED THE SHOOTG "SICKENG." "MY HEART BREAKS FOR THE FAY AND IENDS OF THOSE LOST, JURED AND TRMATIZED," POLIS SAID. "COLORADO STANDS WH OUR LGTBQ MUNY AND EVERYONE IMPACTED BY THIS TRAGEDY AS WE MOURN." A MAKHIFT MEMORIAL SPRANG UP SUNDAY NEAR THE CLUB, WH FLOWERS, A STUFFED ANIMAL AND NDL AND A SIGN SAYG "LOVE OVER HATE" NEXT TO A RABOW-LORED HEART. SETH STANG WAS BUYG FLOWERS FOR THE MEMORIAL WHEN HE WAS TOLD THAT TWO OF THE AD WERE HIS IENDS. THE 34-YEAR-OLD TRANSGENR MAN SAID WAS LIKE HAVG "A BUCKET OF HOT WATER GETTG DUMPED ON YOU. ... I’M JT TIRED OF NNG OUT OF PLAC WHERE WE N EXIST SAFELY." RYAN JOHNSON, WHO LIV NEAR THE CLUB AND WAS THERE LAST MONTH, SAID WAS ONE OF ONLY TWO NIGHTSPOTS FOR THE LGBTQ MUNY NSERVATIVE-LEANG COLORADO SPRGS. "IT’S KD OF THE GO-TO FOR PRI," THE 26-YEAR-OLD SAID OF THE CLUB, WHICH IS TUCKED BEHD OTHER BS, CLUDG A BOWLG ALLEY AND A SANDWICH SHOP. COLORADO SPRGS, A CY OF ABOUT 480,000 LOTED 70 (112 KILOMETERS) SOUTH OF DENVER, IS HOME TO THE U.S. AIR FORCE AMY, AS WELL AS FOC ON THE FAY, A PROMENT EVANGELIL CHRISTIAN MISTRY. THE GROUP NMNED THE SHOOTG AND SAID "EXPOS THE EVIL AND WICKEDNS SI THE HUMAN HEART." IN NOVEMBER 2015, THREE PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND EIGHT WOUND AT A PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLIC THE CY WHEN THORI SAY A GUNMAN TARGETED THE CLIC BEE PERFORMED ABORTNS. THE CEO OF A NATNAL LGBTQ-RIGHTS ANIZATN, KEV JENNGS OF LAMBDA LEGAL, PLEAD FOR TIGHTER RTRICTNS ON GUNS. "AMERI’S TOXIC MIX OF BIGOTRY AND ABSURDLY EASY ACCS TO FIREARMS MEANS THAT SUCH EVENTS ARE ALL TOO MON AND LGBTQ+ PEOPLE, BIPOC MUNI, THE JEWISH MUNY AND OTHER VULNERABLE POPULATNS PAY THE PRICE AGA AND AGA FOR OUR POLIL LEARSHIP’S FAILURE TO ACT," HE SAID A STATEMENT. THE SHOOTG ME DURG TRANSGENR AWARENS WEEK AND JT AT THE START OF SUNDAY’S INTERNATNAL TRANSGENR DAY OF REMEMBRANCE, WHEN EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD ARE HELD TO MOURN AND REMEMBER TRANSGENR PEOPLE LOST TO VLENCE. IN JUNE, 31 MEMBERS OF THE NEO-NAZI GROUP PATRT FRONT WERE ARRTED COR D’ALENE, IDAHO, AND CHARGED WH NSPIRACY TO RT AT A PRI EVENT. EXPERTS WARNED THAT EXTREMIST GROUPS ULD SEE ANTI-GAY RHETORIC AS A LL TO ACTN. THE PREV MONTH, A FUNDAMENTALIST IDAHO PASTOR TOLD HIS SMALL BOISE NGREGATN THAT GAY, LBIAN AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE SHOULD BE EXECUTED BY THE ERNMENT, WHICH LED UP WH SIAR SERMONS OM A TEXAS FUNDAMENTALIST PASTOR. SCE 2006, THERE HAVE BEEN 523 MASS KILLGS AND 2,727 ATHS AS OF NOV. 19, ACRDG TO THE ASSOCIATED PRS/USA TODAY DATABASE ON MASS KILLGS THE U.S. THE ASSOCIATED PRS NTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT. DAILY NEWSLETTER
• SPECT MASS SHOOTG AT COLORADO GAY NIGHTCLUB EXPECTED TO TAKE PLEA DEAL
• WILL THE COLORADO GAY CLUB SHOOTG BE PROSECUTED AS A HATE CRIME?
• COLORADO SPRGS RECKONS WH PAST AFTER GAY CLUB SHOOTG
• MAN ACCED COLORADO GAY BAR SHOOTG FACG MURR AND HATE CRIME CHARG
• DEFENSE: COLORADO GAY CLUB SHOOTG SPECT IS NONBARY

COLORADO GAY CLUB SHOOTG SPECT CHARGED WH HATE CRIM

Aldrich, the spect acced of enterg a Colorado gay nightclub clad body armor and openg fire wh an AR-15-style rifle, killg five people and woundg 17 others, was charged by prosecutors Tuday wh 305 crimal unts cludg hate crim and murr.

(AP) — The spect acced of enterg a Colorado gay nightclub clad body armor and openg fire wh an AR-15-style rifle, killg five people and woundg 17 others, was charged by prosecutors Tuday wh 305 crimal unts cludg hate crim and unts agast Anrson Lee Aldrich clu 48 hate crime charg, one for each person known to have been the club at the time. A 22-year-old gunman opened fire wh a semitomatic rifle si a gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs, killg five people and leavg 25 jured before he was subdued by "heroic" patrons and arrted by police who arrived wh mut, thori said spect the Saturday night shootg at Club Q ed an AR-15-style semitomatic weapon, a law enforcement official said.

GUNMAN KILLED 5 AT COLORADO SPRGS GAY CLUB BEFORE BEG SUBDUED BY PATRONS, POLICE SAY

Suthers said there was "reason to hope" that all of those hospalized would shootg rekdled memori of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people. He said patrons who tervened durg the attack were "heroic" and owed a bt of gratu for preventg more Q is a gay and lbian nightclub that featur a drag show on Saturdays, acrdg to s webse.

Jared Polis, who beme the first openly gay man the Uned Stat to be elected ernor 2018, lled the shootg "sickeng. Experts warned that extremist groups uld see anti-gay rhetoric as a ll to prev month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his small Boise ngregatn that gay, lbian and transgenr people should be executed by the ernment, which led up wh siar sermons om a Texas fundamentalist 2006, there have been 523 mass killgs and 2, 727 aths as of Nov. (AP) — The -owner of the Colorado Sprgs gay nightclub where a shooter turned a drag queen’s birthday celebratn to a massacre said he thks the shootg that killed five people and jured 17 others is a reflectn of anti-LGBTQ sentiment that has evolved om prejudice to cement.

Cy and state officials have offered support and Print Joe Bin and First Lady Jill Bin reached out to Grzecka and -owner Matthew Hayn on Thursday to offer ndolenc and reerate their support for the muny, as well as their mment to fightg back agast hate and gun Q opened after the only other gay bar Colorado Sprgs at that time shuttered, Grzecka said, scribg that era as an evolutn of gay bars. Published November 20, 2022 Updated 6:34PM Gunman kills 5 at Colorado gay club, is subdued by patrons Police say a 22-year-old gunman opened fire at a gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs, killg five people and leavg 25 jured before he was subdued by "heroic" patrons.

OWNER OF GAY CLUB: SHOOTG AMID A NEW ‘TYPE OF HATE’

A 22-year-old gunman opened fire si a gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs, killg five people and leavg 25 jured before he was subdued by "heroic" patrons and arrted by police who arrived wh mut, thori said Sunday. Anti-gun vlence rally held at Stonewall Inn after Colorado shootg Members of the LGBTQ muny and beyond gathered at the Stonewall Inn on Sunday as a service origally tend for the Trans Day of Remembrance turned to one that also memorialized the victims of a mass shootg at a gay club Colorado that left 5 ad and dozens jured. An attacker opened fire a gay nightclub late Saturday night killg five people and woundg at least 25, officials said.

The club said the spect was Club Q is a gay and lbian nightclub that featur a "Drag Diva Drag Show" on Saturdays, acrdg to s webse. An attacker opened fire a gay nightclub The gunman was nonted by "at least two heroic people" who fought and subdued the spect, Vasquez said.

SHOOTG AT COLORADO SPRGS GAY CLUB LEAV 5 AD, 18 JURED; SPECT CTODY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 20, 2022 UPDATED 6:34PM COLORADO FOX 5 NY SHARE COPY LK EMAIL FACEBOOK TWTER LKEDIN REDD GUNMAN KILLS 5 AT COLORADO GAY CLUB, IS SUBDUED BY PATRONS POLICE SAY A 22-YEAR-OLD GUNMAN OPENED FIRE AT A GAY NIGHTCLUB COLORADO SPRGS, KILLG FIVE PEOPLE AND LEAVG 25 JURED BEFORE HE WAS SUBDUED BY "HEROIC" PATRONS. COLORADO - A 22-YEAR-OLD GUNMAN OPENED FIRE SI A GAY NIGHTCLUB COLORADO SPRGS, KILLG FIVE PEOPLE AND LEAVG 25 JURED BEFORE HE WAS SUBDUED BY "HEROIC" PATRONS AND ARRTED BY POLICE WHO ARRIVED WH MUT, THORI SAID SUNDAY. TWO FIREARMS, CLUDG A "LONG RIFLE," WERE FOUND AT CLUB Q AFTER THE SATURDAY NIGHT SHOOTG, SAID POLICE CHIEF ADRIAN VASQUEZ. ON S FACEBOOK PAGE, THE CLUB LLED A "HATE ATTACK." INVTIGATORS WERE STILL TERMG A MOTIVE AND WHETHER TO PROSECUTE AS A HATE CRIME, SAID EL PASO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY MICHAEL ALLEN. CHARG AGAST THE SPECT "WILL LIKELY CLU FIRST-GREE MURR," HE SAID. POLICE INTIFIED THE GUNMAN AS ANRSON LEE ALDRICH, WHO WAS CTODY AND BEG TREATED FOR JURI. ANTI-GUN VLENCE RALLY HELD AT STONEWALL INN AFTER COLORADO SHOOTG MEMBERS OF THE LGBTQ MUNY AND BEYOND GATHERED AT THE STONEWALL INN ON SUNDAY AS A SERVICE ORIGALLY TEND FOR THE TRANS DAY OF REMEMBRANCE TURNED TO ONE THAT ALSO MEMORIALIZED THE VICTIMS OF A MASS SHOOTG AT A GAY CLUB COLORADO THAT LEFT 5 AD AND DOZENS JURED. A MAN WH THAT NAME WAS ARRTED 2021 AFTER HIS MOTHER REPORTED HE THREATENED HER WH A HOMEMA BOMB AND OTHER WEAPONS, THORI SAID. THEY CLED TO ELABORATE ON THAT ARRT. NO EXPLOSIV WERE FOUND, THORI SAID AT THE TIME, AND THE GAZETTE COLORADO SPRGS REPORTED THAT PROSECUTORS DID NOT PURSUE ANY CHARG AND THAT RERDS WERE SEALED. A MAKHIFT MEMORIAL IS SET UP NEAR CLUB Q ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022 COLORADO SPRGS, COLORADO. AN ATTACKER OPENED FIRE A GAY NIGHTCLUB LATE SATURDAY NIGHT KILLG FIVE PEOPLE AND WOUNDG AT LEAST 25, OFFICIALS SAID. THE CLUB SAID THE SPECT WAS EXPAND CLUB Q IS A GAY AND LBIAN NIGHTCLUB THAT FEATUR A "DRAG DIVA DRAG SHOW" ON SATURDAYS, ACRDG TO S WEBSE. BLOOD STAED CLOTHG IS SEEN ON THE GROUND NEAR CLUB Q, AN LGBTQ NIGHTCLUB COLORADO SPRGS, COLORADO, ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022. - AT LEAST FIVE PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND 18 WOUND A MASS SHOOTG AT AN LGBTQ NIGHTCLUB THE US CY OF COLORADO SP EXPAND DRAG EVENTS HAVE BEE A FOC OF ANTI-LGBTQ RHETORIC AND PROTTS RECENTLY AS OPPONENTS, CLUDG POLICIANS, HAVE PROPOSED BANNG CHILDREN OM THEM, FALSELY CLAIMG THEY'RE ED TO "GROOM" CHILDREN. "CLUB Q IS VASTATED BY THE SENSELS ATTACK ON OUR MUNY," THE CLUB POSTED ON S FACEBOOK PAGE. IT SAID S PRAYERS WERE WH VICTIMS AND FAI, AND "WE THANK THE QUICK REACTNS OF HEROIC CTOMERS THAT SUBDUED THE GUNMAN AND END THIS HATE ATTACK." AUTHORI WERE LLED TO CLUB Q AT 11:57 P.M. SATURDAY WH A REPORT OF A SHOOTG, AND THE FIRST OFFICER ARRIVED AT MIDNIGHT. JOSHUA THURMAN SAID HE WAS THE CLUB WH ABOUT TWO DOZEN OTHER PEOPLE AND WAS DANCG WHEN THE SHOTS BEGAN. HE IALLY THOUGHT WAS PART OF THE MIC, UNTIL HE HEARD ANOTHER SHOT AND SAID HE SAW THE FLASH OF A GUN MUZZLE. THURMAN, 34, SAID HE RAN WH ANOTHER PERSON TO A DRSG ROOM WHERE SOMEONE ALREADY WAS HIDG. THEY LOCKED THE DOOR, TURNED OFF THE LIGHTS AND GOT ON THE FLOOR BUT ULD HEAR THE VLENCE UNFOLDG, CLUDG THE GUNMAN GETTG BEATEN UP, HE ADD. "I ULD HAVE LOST MY LIFE — OVER WHAT? WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE?" HE SAID AS TEARS RAN DOWN HIS CHEEKS. "WE WERE JT ENJOYG OURSELV. WE WEREN’T OUT HARMG ANYONE. WE WERE OUR SPACE, OUR MUNY, OUR HOME, ENJOYG OURSELV LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE DO." TYLER JOHNSTON, RIGHT, FORTS HIS IEND JOSHUA THURMAN AT A MAKHIFT MEMORIAL NEAR CLUB Q ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022 COLORADO SPRGS, COLORADO. THURMAN WAS SI THE NIGHTCLUB WHEN THE SHOOTG HAPPENED. AN ATTACKER OPENED FIRE A GAY NIGHTCLUB EXPAND THE GUNMAN WAS NONTED BY "AT LEAST TWO HEROIC PEOPLE" WHO FOUGHT AND SUBDUED THE SPECT, VASQUEZ SAID. "WE OWE THEM A GREAT BT OF THANKS," HE ADD. DETECTIV ALSO WERE EXAMG WHETHER ANYONE HAD HELPED ALDRICH BEFORE THE ATTACK, VASQUEZ SAID. OF THE 25 JURED, AT LEAST SEVEN WERE CRIL NDN, THORI SAID. SOME WERE HURT TRYG TO FLEE, AND WAS UNCLEAR IF ALL OF THE VICTIMS WERE SHOT, A POLICE SPOKPERSON SAID. THE SHOOTG REKDLED MEMORI OF THE 2016 MASSACRE AT THE PULSE GAY NIGHTCLUB ORLANDO, FLORIDA, THAT KILLED 49 PEOPLE. COLORADO HAS EXPERIENCED SEVERAL MASS KILLGS, CLUDG AT COLUMBE HIGH SCHOOL 1999, A MOVIE THEATER SUBURBAN DENVER 2012 AND AT A BOULR SUPERMARKET LAST YEAR. IT WAS THE SIXTH MASS KILLG THIS MONTH AND ME A YEAR WHEN THE NATN WAS SHAKEN BY THE ATHS OF 21 A SCHOOL SHOOTG UVAL, TEXAS. ATTORNEY GENERAL MERRICK GARLAND WAS BRIEFED ON THE SHOOTG AND THE FBI WAS ASSISTG POLICE WH THE VTIGATN. A SIGN HANGS OM A FENCE NEAR CLUB Q, AN LGBTQ NIGHTCLUB, COLORADO SPRGS, COLORADO, ON NOVEMBER 20, 2022. - AT LEAST FIVE PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND 18 WOUND A MASS SHOOTG AT AN LGBTQ NIGHTCLUB THE US CY OF COLORADO SPRGS, POLICE SAID EXPAND PRINT JOE BIN SAID THAT WHILE THE MOTIVE FOR THE SHOOTGS WAS NOT YET CLEAR, "WE KNOW THAT THE LGBTQI+ MUNY HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO HORRIFIC HATE VLENCE RECENT YEARS." "PLAC THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE SAFE SPAC OF ACCEPTANCE AND CELEBRATN SHOULD NEVER BE TURNED TO PLAC OF TERROR AND VLENCE," HE SAID. "WE NNOT AND MT NOT TOLERATE HATE." COLORADO GOV. JARED POLIS, WHO BEME THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN THE UNED STAT TO BE ELECTED ERNOR 2018, LLED THE SHOOTG "SICKENG." "MY HEART BREAKS FOR THE FAY AND IENDS OF THOSE LOST, JURED AND TRMATIZED," POLIS SAID. "COLORADO STANDS WH OUR LGTBQ MUNY AND EVERYONE IMPACTED BY THIS TRAGEDY AS WE MOURN." A MAKHIFT MEMORIAL SPRANG UP SUNDAY NEAR THE CLUB, WH FLOWERS, A STUFFED ANIMAL AND NDL AND A SIGN SAYG "LOVE OVER HATE" NEXT TO A RABOW-LORED HEART. SETH STANG WAS BUYG FLOWERS FOR THE MEMORIAL WHEN HE WAS TOLD THAT TWO OF THE AD WERE HIS IENDS. THE 34-YEAR-OLD TRANSGENR MAN SAID WAS LIKE HAVG "A BUCKET OF HOT WATER GETTG DUMPED ON YOU. ... I’M JT TIRED OF NNG OUT OF PLAC WHERE WE N EXIST SAFELY." RYAN JOHNSON, WHO LIV NEAR THE CLUB AND WAS THERE LAST MONTH, SAID WAS ONE OF ONLY TWO NIGHTSPOTS FOR THE LGBTQ MUNY NSERVATIVE-LEANG COLORADO SPRGS. "IT’S KD OF THE GO-TO FOR PRI," THE 26-YEAR-OLD SAID OF THE CLUB, WHICH IS TUCKED BEHD OTHER BS, CLUDG A BOWLG ALLEY AND A SANDWICH SHOP. COLORADO SPRGS, A CY OF ABOUT 480,000 LOTED 70 (112 KILOMETERS) SOUTH OF DENVER, IS HOME TO THE U.S. AIR FORCE AMY, AS WELL AS FOC ON THE FAY, A PROMENT EVANGELIL CHRISTIAN MISTRY. THE GROUP NMNED THE SHOOTG AND SAID "EXPOS THE EVIL AND WICKEDNS SI THE HUMAN HEART." IN NOVEMBER 2015, THREE PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND EIGHT WOUND AT A PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLIC THE CY WHEN THORI SAY A GUNMAN TARGETED THE CLIC BEE PERFORMED ABORTNS. THE CEO OF A NATNAL LGBTQ-RIGHTS ANIZATN, KEV JENNGS OF LAMBDA LEGAL, PLEAD FOR TIGHTER RTRICTNS ON GUNS. "AMERI’S TOXIC MIX OF BIGOTRY AND ABSURDLY EASY ACCS TO FIREARMS MEANS THAT SUCH EVENTS ARE ALL TOO MON AND LGBTQ+ PEOPLE, BIPOC MUNI, THE JEWISH MUNY AND OTHER VULNERABLE POPULATNS PAY THE PRICE AGA AND AGA FOR OUR POLIL LEARSHIP’S FAILURE TO ACT," HE SAID A STATEMENT. THE SHOOTG ME DURG TRANSGENR AWARENS WEEK AND JT AT THE START OF SUNDAY’S INTERNATNAL TRANSGENR DAY OF REMEMBRANCE, WHEN EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD ARE HELD TO MOURN AND REMEMBER TRANSGENR PEOPLE LOST TO VLENCE. IN JUNE, 31 MEMBERS OF THE NEO-NAZI GROUP PATRT FRONT WERE ARRTED COR D’ALENE, IDAHO, AND CHARGED WH NSPIRACY TO RT AT A PRI EVENT. EXPERTS WARNED THAT EXTREMIST GROUPS ULD SEE ANTI-GAY RHETORIC AS A LL TO ACTN. THE PREV MONTH, A FUNDAMENTALIST IDAHO PASTOR TOLD HIS SMALL BOISE NGREGATN THAT GAY, LBIAN AND TRANSGENR PEOPLE SHOULD BE EXECUTED BY THE ERNMENT, WHICH LED UP WH SIAR SERMONS OM A TEXAS FUNDAMENTALIST PASTOR. SCE 2006, THERE HAVE BEEN 523 MASS KILLGS AND 2,727 ATHS AS OF NOV. 19, ACRDG TO THE ASSOCIATED PRS/USA TODAY DATABASE ON MASS KILLGS THE U.S. THE ASSOCIATED PRS NTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT. DAILY NEWSLETTER

The shootg rekdled memori of the 2016 massacre at the Pulse gay nightclub Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people. Experts warned that extremist groups uld see anti-gay rhetoric as a ll to actn. The prev month, a fundamentalist Idaho pastor told his small Boise ngregatn that gay, lbian and transgenr people should be executed by the ernment, which led up wh siar sermons om a Texas fundamentalist pastor.

Onle gamg iends said the spect exprsed hatred for police, LGBTQ+ people and mori and ed anti-Black and anti-gay slurs. A tective ttified that they sent an onle msage wh a photo of a rifle spe traed on a gay pri para.

The spect a mass shootg at a Colorado Sprgs gay nightclub is expected to strike a plea al to state murr and hate charg that would ensure at least a life sentence for the attack that killed five people and wound 17, several survivors told The Associated Prs.

SPECT MASS SHOOTG AT COLORADO GAY NIGHTCLUB EXPECTED TO TAKE PLEA DEAL

Onle gamg iends said Aldrich exprsed hatred for the police, LGBTQ people and mori and ed anti-Black and anti-gay slurs. And a police tective ttified that Aldrich sent an onle msage wh a photo of a rifle spe traed on a gay pri para.

Muny is on edge after the Moon for The New York TimOn Saturday, revelry at a gay bar Manhattan was terpted for the fourth time this month by someone throwg a brick at s plate-glass wdows at the bar, VERS, are shatterproof, so the attacks have not jured anyone, said s owner, David DeParola. The adly mass shootg has shaken gay muni across the sense of unease has been acutely felt New York, one of the untry’s gay cultural centers and the se of the 1969 Stonewall Inn uprisg, which is wily viewed as the birth of the morn gay rights York’s L. Muny, like gay muni elsewhere, has been eply troubled by verbal attacks recent years on drag events, om club nights to children’s drag queen story hours at librari.

WILL THE COLORADO GAY CLUB SHOOTG BE PROSECUTED AS A HATE CRIME?

The crowd at Club Q on Saturday night was celebratg Transgenr Day of Remembrance, an annual memoratn that unrsr the grave danger that transgenr, genr-nonnformg and gay people who openly embrace their inti n face. ETColorado Sprgs’s gay muny mourns iends, and a sense of Healy/The New York TimCOLORADO SPRINGS — The grief swirlg through Colorado Sprgs’s tight-kn L.

Another gay bar downtown had closed mourng as vigils took place across the the workers at Shuga’s cid they would serve dner a kd of fiant love for their muny, which has not always felt wele the unty, a nservative area that was once a center of anti-gay activism. The staff pned black ribbons set agast a rabow background to their kchen they poured cktails and served up salads and almond ke, they hugged and shared their memori about the victims of the shootg, and talked about how their sense of secury Colorado Sprgs’s small but creasgly visible gay muny now felt shattered. It was like: Hey, se I fot, I’m still gay.

COLORADO SPRGS RECKONS WH PAST AFTER GAY CLUB SHOOTG

Spencer Abila, 18, a le ok, said that had not always been easy to grow up gay Colorado Sprgs, and that he had not felt fortable beg open about his inty for much of his childhood. “There are so many clubs — you look at how many clubs are Colorado Sprgs, and then you look at how many gay clubs are Colorado Sprgs, ” Michael Anrson, a bartenr at Club Q who was at work when the shootg took place, said an terview on CNN Monday.

Muny, beg Club Q has never been easy the tensely nservative Colorado the murro vlence that epted there on Saturday night was, at once, unimagable a place where people e to relax and be accepted for who they are, and somehow stched to the background of a place that many ways had evolved posive directns — until a man body armor walked to the club and opened years, Colorado Sprgs was a center of anti-gay activism, and served as home base to Christian thk tanks and polil groups hostile to L.

”Durg that time, his rtrant, Poor Richard’s, was repeatedly targeted for beg a gay-iendly hangout.

MAN ACCED COLORADO GAY BAR SHOOTG FACG MURR AND HATE CRIME CHARG

Four years later, a more nservative uncil revoked the recent years, he said, anti-gay activism the cy has largely disappeared.

“It’s one of the few plac that the gay muny n go to that they felt fairly safe at, whout issu om other people, ” he said. ETA patron ‘saved dozens and dozens of liv’ by tacklg the Club Q gunman, an owner Brenner for The New York TimCOLORADO SPRINGS — The patron who tackled a gunman si a gay nightclub Colorado Sprgs on Saturday night prevented a adly shootg om beg far worse, the club’s owners said on Sunday. (AP) — The man spected of killg five people and jurg others at a gay bar Colorado Sprgs is facg murr and hate crime charg, acrdg to onle urt rerds obtaed Monday.

Club Q is a gay and lbian nightclub that featur a drag show on Saturdays, acrdg to s webse.

DEFENSE: COLORADO GAY CLUB SHOOTG SPECT IS NONBARY

Jared Polis, who beme the first openly gay man to be elected a U.