On Sunday, 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich killed five people and injured 25 others in a mass shooting at Club Q, an LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs. The horrendous attack came on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance and after an increase in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric across the nation. He has since been charged with five counts of murder and five counts of bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury.
In response to the Club Q attack, Legal Defense Fund (LDF) President and Director-Counsel Janai Nelson issued the following statement:
“Our deepest sympathies go out to the families who have been impacted by this tragedy and will enter a holiday season marked with grief and trauma. We also have immense gratitude for the heroic efforts of at least two people who halted the attack as it was unfolding and saved countless lives as a result.
“While we await clarity on the gunman’s motive, what is already clear is that he entered the club with the intent to commit a hate crime – as he has now been charged with by law enforcement – and with what witnesses say was ‘tremendous firepower.’ And he did so the night before Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day when we honor the lives and memories of those lost to hateful anti-transgender violence – with Black transgender women representing 63% of all victims since 2013.
“This latest mass shooting comes at a time when our nation is witnessing increasing physical, verbal, and legislative attacks on the diverse LGBTQ+ community. These are inspired and supported by the unabated, hate-filled rhetoric on both traditional and social media platforms. When combined with ready access to high-powered weapons, these words are being turned into violent actions.
“The need for measures to end violence in our country, such as gun control, remains a crucial priority, and LDF will continue to advocate for these efforts. But we also need to tackle the scourge of hate that is at the core of much of what is keeping Americans from being able to feel safe in their communities, while also addressing the platforms that give this hate the space to metastasize. We call on elected officials at every level to prioritize putting an end to hate-fueled violence and the conditions that lead to it.”
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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.
