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Re: Condolence thread for mass murder…...
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Years before he allegedly walked into a Colorado LGBTQ bar with an assault-style rifle, the man now known as Anderson Lee Aldrich had a different name, and a tumultuous past.
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Until age 15, he was known as Nicholas Brink, living in San Antonio, public records show. His parents separated when he was a toddler, and when he was 12, his mother, Laura Voepel, was arrested for suspected arson, according to court documents. She was later found guilty of a lesser offense in connection with the same incident.[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]At age 15, he became the target of a particularly vicious bout of online bullying in which insulting accusations were posted to a website, along with his name, photos and online aliases, according to a review of the site by The Washington Post. At some point, a YouTube account was created under his name, featuring a crude, profanity-laden animation under the title, “Asian homosexual gets molested.”[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]For unstated reasons, just before his 16th birthday, the young man petitioned a Texas court — with two of his grandparents’ names on the document — to legally change his entire name. His mother’s name did not appear on the petition.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Nicholas F. Brink became Anderson Lee Aldrich, who, at age 22, would gain infamy as the suspected shooter accused of killing at least five people and wounding 18 others inside the Colorado Springs bar known as Club Q. The reasons behind the choice of the new name were unclear.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Whether the events of Aldrich’s childhood had any bearing on Saturday’s horrific violence is unknown. But Aldrich’s earlier existence as Nicholas Brink, reported for the first time, offers possible answers to several key mysteries surrounding the suspected gunman. Public records and databases were oddly silent about Aldrich for the first two decades of his life.
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[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]For unstated reasons, just before his 16th birthday, the young man petitioned a Texas court — with two of his grandparents’ names on the document — to legally change his entire name. His mother’s name did not appear on the petition.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Nicholas F. Brink became Anderson Lee Aldrich, who, at age 22, would gain infamy as the suspected shooter accused of killing at least five people and wounding 18 others inside the Colorado Springs bar known as Club Q. The reasons behind the choice of the new name were unclear.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Whether the events of Aldrich’s childhood had any bearing on Saturday’s horrific violence is unknown. But Aldrich’s earlier existence as Nicholas Brink, reported for the first time, offers possible answers to several key mysteries surrounding the suspected gunman. Public records and databases were oddly silent about Aldrich for the first two decades of his life.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirmed in a statement to The Post that the alleged shooter was on the membership rolls of the church but had not been active in the Colorado Springs locations to the best of their knowledge.
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[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]The church, which until 2019 described people in same-sex marriages as “apostates,” condemned the shooting in a statement: “The senseless act of violence in Colorado Springs is of great sadness and concern to us. We are greatly troubled by any violence in our communities and condemn most especially violent acts that are the result of intolerance against any of God’s children.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]The mayor of Colorado Springs had said the shooting had “the trappings of a hate crime.” Asked Monday if the federal authorities would bring hate crime charges, Cole Finegan, the U.S. attorney for Colorado, said the Justice Department was “looking at all aspects of this case.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Until now, no formal charges have been filed, and police remained tight-lipped about key details of the case. On Monday, Michael J. Allen, the district attorney for the area that includes Colorado Springs, said that Aldrich was likely to face murder and “bias-motivated” charges in connection with his arrest. Allen said formal charges were forthcoming.
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[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Speaking at a news conference, Allen said records from the Club Q case had been placed under seal. His office had requested they be sealed, saying in a filing Monday morning that releasing them “could jeopardize” the prosecution.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Aldrich remained hospitalized Monday, and authorities declined to discuss his medical condition. Allen declined to say whether Aldrich had spoken with law enforcement. Officials have also declined to shed any light on when, how, or where, Aldrich obtained his weapon.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Allen noted that in Colorado, the charges connected with killing people at the club “will likely carry life in prison without parole,” so the bias-related charges would not “elevate the potential sentence.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]It is “important to let the community know that we do not tolerate bias-motivated crimes in this community,” he said.
City officials said the toll from the shooting could have been far worse. Republican Mayor John Suthers said in an interview that at least one club patron disarmed the gunman during the attack by grabbing his weapon and hitting him in the head with it. “In fact,” Suthers said, “there was a patron on top of the gunman.”[/COLOR]
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[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Years before he allegedly walked into a Colorado LGBTQ bar with an assault-style rifle, the man now known as Anderson Lee Aldrich had a different name, and a tumultuous past.
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Until age 15, he was known as Nicholas Brink, living in San Antonio, public records show. His parents separated when he was a toddler, and when he was 12, his mother, Laura Voepel, was arrested for suspected arson, according to court documents. She was later found guilty of a lesser offense in connection with the same incident.[/COLOR]
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]At age 15, he became the target of a particularly vicious bout of online bullying in which insulting accusations were posted to a website, along with his name, photos and online aliases, according to a review of the site by The Washington Post. At some point, a YouTube account was created under his name, featuring a crude, profanity-laden animation under the title, “Asian homosexual gets molested.”[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]For unstated reasons, just before his 16th birthday, the young man petitioned a Texas court — with two of his grandparents’ names on the document — to legally change his entire name. His mother’s name did not appear on the petition.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Nicholas F. Brink became Anderson Lee Aldrich, who, at age 22, would gain infamy as the suspected shooter accused of killing at least five people and wounding 18 others inside the Colorado Springs bar known as Club Q. The reasons behind the choice of the new name were unclear.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Whether the events of Aldrich’s childhood had any bearing on Saturday’s horrific violence is unknown. But Aldrich’s earlier existence as Nicholas Brink, reported for the first time, offers possible answers to several key mysteries surrounding the suspected gunman. Public records and databases were oddly silent about Aldrich for the first two decades of his life.
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]For unstated reasons, just before his 16th birthday, the young man petitioned a Texas court — with two of his grandparents’ names on the document — to legally change his entire name. His mother’s name did not appear on the petition.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Nicholas F. Brink became Anderson Lee Aldrich, who, at age 22, would gain infamy as the suspected shooter accused of killing at least five people and wounding 18 others inside the Colorado Springs bar known as Club Q. The reasons behind the choice of the new name were unclear.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Whether the events of Aldrich’s childhood had any bearing on Saturday’s horrific violence is unknown. But Aldrich’s earlier existence as Nicholas Brink, reported for the first time, offers possible answers to several key mysteries surrounding the suspected gunman. Public records and databases were oddly silent about Aldrich for the first two decades of his life.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints confirmed in a statement to The Post that the alleged shooter was on the membership rolls of the church but had not been active in the Colorado Springs locations to the best of their knowledge.
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]The church, which until 2019 described people in same-sex marriages as “apostates,” condemned the shooting in a statement: “The senseless act of violence in Colorado Springs is of great sadness and concern to us. We are greatly troubled by any violence in our communities and condemn most especially violent acts that are the result of intolerance against any of God’s children.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]The mayor of Colorado Springs had said the shooting had “the trappings of a hate crime.” Asked Monday if the federal authorities would bring hate crime charges, Cole Finegan, the U.S. attorney for Colorado, said the Justice Department was “looking at all aspects of this case.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Until now, no formal charges have been filed, and police remained tight-lipped about key details of the case. On Monday, Michael J. Allen, the district attorney for the area that includes Colorado Springs, said that Aldrich was likely to face murder and “bias-motivated” charges in connection with his arrest. Allen said formal charges were forthcoming.
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Speaking at a news conference, Allen said records from the Club Q case had been placed under seal. His office had requested they be sealed, saying in a filing Monday morning that releasing them “could jeopardize” the prosecution.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Aldrich remained hospitalized Monday, and authorities declined to discuss his medical condition. Allen declined to say whether Aldrich had spoken with law enforcement. Officials have also declined to shed any light on when, how, or where, Aldrich obtained his weapon.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]Allen noted that in Colorado, the charges connected with killing people at the club “will likely carry life in prison without parole,” so the bias-related charges would not “elevate the potential sentence.”[/COLOR]
[COLOR=var(--wpds-colors-gray40)]It is “important to let the community know that we do not tolerate bias-motivated crimes in this community,” he said.
City officials said the toll from the shooting could have been far worse. Republican Mayor John Suthers said in an interview that at least one club patron disarmed the gunman during the attack by grabbing his weapon and hitting him in the head with it. “In fact,” Suthers said, “there was a patron on top of the gunman.”[/COLOR]
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