Gov. Jared Polis has once again found himself thrust in the center of a national spotlight following the mass shooting at an LGBTQ bar in Colorado over the weekend. Exactly how the openly gay governor meets this tragic moment will be determined in the coming days and weeks.
The attack happened shortly before midnight on Saturday night. 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich entered Club Q in Colorado Springs with a long rifle and began firing at staff and patrons, killing five and injuring around 25 others before being tackled by two patrons.
Police arrived within minutes and Aldrich was taken into custody. He is likely facing multiple first-degree murder charges.
Related: “I will miss you forever”: Heartbreaking tributes to bartenders killed at Q Club in Colorado Springs
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Hours after the attack, Polis issued a statement calling it “horrific, sickening, and devastating.”
“My heart breaks for the family and friends of those lost, injured, and traumatized in this terrible shooting,” he said.
— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) November 20, 2022
In a follow up tweet posted to his personal Twitter page, Polis, who became the first openly gay man ever elected governor in the United States in 2018, tweeted a broken heart emoji.
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— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) November 20, 2022
Speaking to CNN’s Jim Acosta yesterday afternoon, he said Alrich’s motive was still unclear, but he called it an “act of evil.”
“This was just a place of safety for people,” Polis said. “It was a place where people could, in a conservative community, often get the acceptance that too many of them might not have had it at home or in their other circles and to see this occur is really just put us all in a state of shock here in Colorado and across the country.”
Later in the interview, he added, “I’m confident in the coming hours and days we’ll have a more detailed timeline to express our gratitude more specifically.”
“I mean, this is an act of evil, a horrific act, whether they were targeted because it was an LGBTQ gathering place, or whether it was targeted for other personal reasons. We simply don’t know that at this hour.”
Police have indicated that they will investigate the shooting as a hate crime.
Per NPR:
Right now, police are in the early stages of the investigation and motive has not be determined. When asked whether the attack was a hate crime, local district attorney Michael Allen said it will be investigated “in that lens.”
In Colorado, a hate crime, also known as a bias-motivated crime, is defined as an assault or vandalism that is at least partially motivated by bias against a person’s actual or perceived race, religion, nationality, age, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.
As governor, Polis has worked to curb gun violence in the state.
Last year, he signed several new gun laws, including one that expanded background checks, one that gave local governments more authority on gun regulations, and one that established a gun violence prevention office.
He has also signed laws regulating safe storage of guns in homes and requirements for reporting lost or stolen firearms.
In response to Saturday’s shooting, Polis has also ordered all flags outside public buildings statewide to be lowered to half-staff in honor of the victims. The flags will be lowered for five days, one for each of the five people killed.
The governor’s office is advising anyone who wishes to help those impacted by the attack to donate to the Colorado Healing Fund.
abfab
If I were King of the Country I would close and demolish every gun factory. I would take away everyones guns and ammunition and I would toss the 2nd ammendment down the drain. On day one.
Huron132
Job done and no questions asked!
alanfleming
Can we stop with the “openly gay”? This was pejorative language used by straight papers back in the days when the few of us in positions of political power were freaks to be denigrated and controlled by the power of language.
We need to do better. Especially, our own media needs to do better. My suggestion is, unless there is a better word to add, just say “gay”?
Vince
Yeah, it has a history meant to ridicule. Like no one would ever say openly straight. You just are.
inbama
So the Colorado killer identifies as trans.
“Anderson Aldrich is nonbinary,” his lawyer states. “They use they/them pronouns, and for the purposes of all formal filings, will be addressed as Mx. Aldrich.”
denverpostdotcom/2022/11/22/anderson-lee-aldrich-club-q-shooting-non-binary/