The suspect accused of entering a Colorado gay nightclub clad in body armor and opening fire with an AR-15-style rifle, killing five people and wounding 17 others, was charged by prosecutors Tuesday with 305 criminal counts including hate crimes and murder.
The counts against Anderson Lee Aldrich include 48 hate crime charges, one for each person known to have been in the club at the time of the shooting.
The shooting came more than a year after Aldrich was arrested following a standoff with SWAT teams after authorities say Aldrich threatened to stockpile guns, ammo and body armor to become the “next mass killer.” But charges were dropped, the record is sealed and prosecutors say they can't legally talk about what happened.
District Attorney Michael Allen had noted that murder charges would carry the harshest penalty - likely life in prison - but also said it was important to show the community that bias motivated crimes are not tolerated if there was evidence to support the charge. Allen said the suspect being nonbinary was “part of the picture” in considering hate crime charges but he wouldn't elaborate.
Colorado prosecutors will need concrete evidence such as statements Aldrich may have made about the shooting, Frank Pezzella, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said.According to witnesses, Aldrich fired first at people gathered at the club's bar before spraying bullets across the dance floor during the attack, which came on the eve of an annual day of remembrance for transgender people lost to violence.
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