Shooter of 2022 LGBTQ bar massacre sentenced to 190 years in prison amid Pride Month

The person who opened fire at an LGBTQ bar in 2022 and killed five people was sentenced to nearly 200 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple hate crime and weapons charges.

Kelly Loving, Raymond Green, Ashley Paugh, Daniel Davis Aston and Derrick Rump were killed in the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which took place on November 19, 2022, PEOPLE reported at the time, citing Colorado Springs. Police Department.

Anderson Lee Aldrich pleaded guilty Tuesday, June 18, to 74 hate crime and gun-related charges and was sentenced to 55 consecutive life terms and 190 years in prison, according to a press release issued by the department's Office of Public Affairs American Justice.

According to the Justice Department, “Aldrich admitted to murdering five people, wounding 19, and attempting to murder 26 others in a willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated attack at Club Q.”

“Today's sentence makes clear that the Department of Justice is committed to protecting the right of every person in this country to live without fear of being the target of hate-fueled violence or discrimination based on who they are. is or who she loves,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement, according to the release.

U.S. District Judge Charlotte N. Sweeney handed down the sentence and reprimanded the shooter, who uses “they/them” pronouns, for attacking “a community's safe space,” according to ABC News .

“This community is much stronger than you, stronger than your armor and stronger than your weapons and certainly stronger than your hatred,” Sweeney said, further emphasizing the significance of their conviction during Pride Month, an annual celebration that honors LGBTQ people. community.

At the time of the sentencing, the shooter was already in prison on state charges to which he pleaded guilty in 2023, according to ABC News. They were sentenced to five consecutive life sentences in the case, Colorado Public Radio reported.

The shooter, who was 22 at the time, carried out the massacre on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, PEOPLE reported at the time, citing authorities.

Ashtin Gamblin, who was working outside the front door of Club Q the night of the massacre, spoke at the sentencing. “There was no respect for my life, there should be no respect for theirs,” said Gamblin, who was shot nine times, CBS affiliate KKTV reported.

Some survivors said it was the “final chapter” of the carnage for them. “I hope this should be the end, but I guess it will never end for us,” survivor Ed Sanders said, according to KRDO.

Svetlana Heim, a former employee of the club, told the outlet that she considers it “the final chapter of a book. It's now done. Very final.”

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“This is one of the most violent hate-motivated mass shootings targeting the LGBTQIA+ community in our nation’s history,” said Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the department’s Civil Rights Division. American Justice, during a press conference following the conviction.

“Today’s sentencing should send a strong message,” she continued. “We will not tolerate hatred in our country, and perpetrators of bias-motivated violence will be held accountable for their actions.”