Club Q shooter sentenced to life in prison

The shooter who killed five people at a Colorado LGBTQ nightclub in 2022 has been sentenced to multiple life sentences.

Anderson Aldrich pleaded guilty to 50 federal hate crimes and received 55 life sentences. He also pleaded guilty to 74 hate crimes and gun violations and was sentenced to an additional 190 years.

The 24-year-old pleaded guilty Tuesday as part of a deal with federal prosecutors to avoid the death penalty.

Aldrich, 24, previously pleaded guilty to state charges and is currently serving five life sentences related to the Club Q shooting.

U.S. District Court Judge Charlotte Sweeney sentenced Aldrich before the families of the victims and survivors of the mass shooting looked on.

“This community is stronger than your armor, stronger than your weapons and stronger than your hatred,” the judge told Aldrich after his sentencing, adding that his guilty plea included that he attacked the club because of victims’ “real or perceived gender identity.” sexual orientation.

In June 2023, Aldrich was sentenced to five life sentences as well as 46 consecutive 48-year sentences for attempted murder.

The attacker pleaded no contest to hate crimes in this case.

Aldrich, who lawyers say identifies as non-binary and uses they and them pronouns, visited Club Q several times before the attack and had previously expressed hatred toward police, LGBT people and minorities, according to prosecutors.

In a statement released in January, prosecutors called Aldrich's targeting of Club Q a “willful, deliberate, malicious and premeditated attack.”