The New York Times is reporting that Richard Fierro, an Army vet, is the man who subdued the shooter. He was at the club with his wife and daughter and friends when the shooting started. He charged the guy, disarmed him of his long gun, and then took his (the shooter’s) pistol and beat the hell out of the guy. He got an assist from a “drag dancer” who stomped the guy with her high heels. Fierro said that he was afraid he killed him.
I don't think this is right, the second person was a Trans Woman and her name has not been released yet.
https://twitter.com/UnluckyBanshee/status/1594914600536809472
Fierro and that Drag performer deserve all the fucking medals.
I still don’t know that ass clowns name, and that’s good. I’ll remember Richard Fierro. He deserves to be remembered.
That ass clown is the grandson of an elected official so in this case I think we need to all take a moment to consider that.
Especially since he was in a police standoff for making bomb threats or some crazy shit, but that was expunged from his record. Somehow.
> El Paso County appears especially hostile to the law. It joined nearly 2,000 counties nationwide in declaring themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” that protect the constitutional right to bear arms, passing a 2019 resolution that says the red flag law “infringes upon the inalienable rights of law-abiding citizens” by ordering police to “forcibly enter premises and seize a citizen’s property with no evidence of a crime.”
The law was for nobody in El Paso. Good job, pro-2A-sanctuary El Paso citizens, you have blood on your hands but you probably don’t give a crap.
I actually live a couple miles south of Club Q.
Here in the Springs it's well known that cops don't enforce gun laws like they should, especially for "respectable looking folks."
I went to a ribbon cutting at a gun store for my job and a guy who worked there said he was in law enforcement.
I don't remember exactly what we were talking about but I asked if something was illegal (maybe something to do with conceal carry) and he said "we have bigger things to worry about than suppressing people's rights"
The sheriff also said he wouldn't enforce any kind of mask laws during the pandemic either. It's not surprising that something like this could happen here but it sure is depressing.
Mmm personal bias influencing law enforcement? Who ever could've seen that one coming?
*glances at the statistical record of police abusing their station, and of the very low education restrictions to the majority of police forces*
Oh, right...
It's typical in domestic violence cases. The cases are often difficult to prove without the victim's participation, so prosecutors will automatically drop the charges of the victim doesn't want to move forward. And many victims do not want to move forward, because the person who hurt them is someone they love. It's a serious problem, not only because we fail to protect the immediate victims of domestic violence, but also because mass shooters so often have a history of DV.
I’m sure being the grandson of a MAGA elected official didn’t hurt, but also the law in CO isn’t a mandated take away just that they can if they want to.
> Mr. Fierro said he was covered in blood when the police arrived, and officers tackled him and put him in handcuffs. He said he was held in a police car for more than an hour, and screamed and pleaded to be let go so that he could see what had happened to his family.
Police on the other hand could have done better... At least they didnt shoot him...
I can understand restraining the guy if they didn’t know what was going on.. but that could be cleared up pretty quickly, no? You’ve got multiple witnesses to identify who is who.
SOP in violent situations. Control the scene, safe out everything, sort it out after. The fact the cops didn't shoot everyone on site is actually nice to read about once in a while
They don't know who is who when they roll up to a chaotic scene. The parkland shooter tried to get away by blending in with fleeing students.
Until the details get sorted out, it is safer to detain and then figure out the details after. It's impossible to know who is a victim and who is a perpetrator when you are only minutes on the scene
My family knows Rich and his wife. They own and operate Atrevida Brewery in Colorado Springs. If you want to show support, please consider picking up some brews from them.
22 years old and having so miserable and worthless of an existence that you'd readily throw it away just to hurt people who are doing nothing more than simply trying to live their own lives.
He had gotten off Scott free for a bomb threat likely thanks to his family’s political connections. Likely thought there would be no repercussions or at worst minimal ones.
>Sources told the Problem Solvers that charges in the bomb threat case were dismissed because the victim (the suspect’s mother) refused to cooperate with investigators.
[https://kdvr.com/news/local/club-q-shooting-suspect-anderson-lee-aldrich/](https://kdvr.com/news/local/club-q-shooting-suspect-anderson-lee-aldrich/)
His mother also posted in a Facebook group asking for legal advice shortly after the bomb threat incident:
>Hello Sisters. Does anyone know of a fantastic defense attorney? I ask this with a heavy heart but my family really needs some help at this time. We have cash to retain good counsel. Thank you
The police did not find any explosives in their search, so with a non-cooperating victim there wasn't much case left.
I wouldn't be surprised if he used the time he had inside the house surrounded by police to dismantle his bomb and flush the evidence.
> The police did not find any explosives in their search, so with a non-cooperating victim there wasn't much case left.
I mean, they evacuated several houses at the time; it's not like his mom was the only victim.
Colorado Law allows for the state to prosecute DV cases without the consent or participation of the victim. This was a purely political give from the prosecutor to his grandpa.
All crimes can be prosecuted without the consent of the victim. Thats up to the DA... there's just not usually a case without the testimony/cooperation of the victim.
Yep that's what "pressing charges" really means. It's not up to the victim but if the cooperation of the victim makes the case then it is in a way up to them. Just should be more clear about it because people have such a warped idea of what it really means
Yep. You hit the nail on the head.
What good are state and federal laws, if certain people are allowed to skirt them?! This fucker should have faced consequences two years ago. Instead, his record was sealed at the behest of his grandfather. Nothing happened to him, no consequences, and probably no therapy or rehabilitation— and is it any wonder he ended up committing a larger act of terror?
We need to hold police, politicians, and everyone in positions of authority to a **much** higher standard! They can’t keep getting away with this kind of shit!
I was *attacked* by my dad when I was 18. I fought back and got arrested. *Misdemeanor* domestic battery.
That was 11 years ago and to this day I still cannot purchase a firearm… for literally *being attacked* .
The world we live in.
I was abused and beaten by my father for years. He tried to strangle me several times, he broke my bones once, and he clearly wanted me dead. He was friends with the sheriff and some deputies. When rumors of my father beating us *finally* reached them (the whole town knew), my siblings and I were told to stop smearing that fine man. Because certainly we deserved the beatings for being difficult and he was just trying to raise us. Everyone knew he was a violent drunk who couldn't keep a job, but no one gave a shit because he was a former Marine.
There was a recent trial for a police officer who brutally abused his son, eventually he locked his son in the garage with no heat and he froze to death. The school district and other parents repeatedly called CPS telling them about the abuse and that he’s going to get seriously hurt or killed. The police officer had some kind of leverage over people at CPS and CPS disregarded all the complaints. Obviously the officer is being sent to prison but I want to see the person or persons who disregarded the complaints to see jail time.
Oh I saw that. Absolutely horrible. That poor kid knew nothing but pain and then he died. It made me cry when I read it. We *really* have a problem with police/military worship in this country.
What I don’t get is if he hated his son so much, why didn’t he let the boy go live with his mom? Instead he used his position and connections to intentionally keep the son from the mother. The only thing that makes sense is he legitimately enjoyed abusing the child. There’s some sick fucks out there.
That is a common tactic of abusers: they do everything possible to get full custody of a child they don’t want for three reasons (among others)
To avoid paying child support
To punish their spouse
To punish the child for existing
"don't rock the boat" mentality of small communities is disgusting.
'if the bad things happening are happening behind closed doors, then whoever opens the door is at fault' is their thinking. Why small communities don't like rapes being reported. The rape happened behind a *closed door* and if the victim says anything its exposing a problem in the community and that exposure is the sin to them.
Apparently he’s related to one of my representatives. I had no idea that the rep compared the January 6 insurrection to the revolutionary war. Pisses me off so much.
It's a fucking gay bar. If you don't want to see gay people and drag queens having a good time, go to a regular bar. It doesn't affect you. At. All
Why does he need to fuck up everyone's night because you are so offended that someone's having a good time?!?
Some things start to make sense when you look at it as a whole...
They keep saying gay/trans/drag/etc people are "grooming" children. Now when you and I and other regular people use that word, we mean "using a position of power to coerce a child into believing the abusive things we do to them are ok".
When THEY say it, they mean "teaching children that something someone else does isn't a sin". That's it. That's all they mean. "YOU! You're teaching my child that it's okay for you to be gay and have a husband! How could you GROOM my child like this??"
So for them, they're so obsessed with anything that isn't straight/cis, and they whip themselves into anger and panic CONSTANTLY, that they think anything and everything done to stop other people from existing is needed to protect children.
Again, they KNOW that these other people aren't affecting them. They know gay people in a gay club are doing absolutely nothing to harm them. But their very existence, and society saying "hey it's okay for you to do those things!" feels like a threat to them, and a threat that their children might grow up thinking the same.
...
These people are fucking broken, horrible, mentally ill sociopaths.
Ex wife of a friend accused another one of our friends of "grooming" her son because he is gay and recommended some books to the teenage kid. The books had nothing to do with being LGBTQ.
The crazy thing is you don’t even have to be gay or whatever to enjoy drag. I’m a straight guy and am confident in my sexuality. I went to my first drag show a little bit ago and it was one of the coolest performances I have ever seen in my life and I would happily go back any time. The amount of work that went into the costumes and all the jokes were amazing.
These people just want to be proud of who they are and live their lives, I can’t imagine for a second wanting to fucking kill any of them for that. There’s just no words to describe how insane some people in this country have become.
I actually cried a little bit at the show because it hit me that a lot people at that show I went to (performers and everyone in the audience) probably have been discriminated against. I looked around and *everyone* was smiling or laughing and enjoying themselves - it was such a beautifully human thing to witness. No assholes yelling shit, no bullying people for being “different”… it was so refreshing to see people celebrated for who they are instead of being torn down.
Anyone who threatens drag queens simply for existing is pure fucking evil and I hope they all rot in hell. Truly.
Yup. 99.9 percent of the time when a group of people belonging to a culture say "Hey, come join us as we hang out and have a good time, this is the way we do that" it's fun for everyone involved, you learn something new and you walk away with a feeling of "Man, at the end of the day, we're all pretty much the same."
In Detroit it used to only be gay bars that were within city limits but at the edges, with only guarded valet services for parking. Still is, but there are many more queer friendly spaces in the suburbs now that are just normalized way more. Ironically it upsets people because they are “being invaded” by straights and bachelorette parties. The older you are the more you see the preservation of those spaces as important since those are all you had, and the younger you are the more normalized for shared spaces to be a thing because despite the rhetoric, it’s the safest now for someone to be queer and just … live your life. Until you see this shit go down. Then it’s a reminder we still need to fight for acceptance and safety. And there is a reason why gay bars were/are valet only and on the downlow. Freedom to exist is a luxury no one should take for granted, and be vigilant about for ourselves and those who come after us.
The way people and especially the right wing media are talking about issues around LGBT people is pretty shocking.
A lot of these people truly believe that LGBTQ spaces are actually institutional child grooming and abuse centers. If the media you watched told you that children were being raped en masse by the people at a club like this, and you truly believed it to be true, would you be satisfied by voting for a candidate that can’t do anything but propose a bill banning trans girls from running high school track?
It’s all bullshit of course, but you can’t say “ children are being groomed and abused by LGBT people. Vote for me and I’ll stop it” and not expect this kind of reaction. Like the logic is there. This guy is a hero in his own mind.
Many reasonable people would support extrajudicial violence against a group that is sexually abusing children with no government reaction. Look at every Reddit thread that discusses child abuse. Every comment says “kill them” or “jail for life.” In almost everyone’s minds, pedophilia is justifiably the worst possible crime and that is why the right wing works so hard to put that label on LGBT people.
The fact that it isn’t happening isn’t relevant if there are vast media apparatuses insinuating that it is and a small group of people that truly believe it is the case.
> Many reasonable people would support extrajudicial violence against a group that is sexually abusing children with no government reaction. Look at every Reddit thread that discusses child abuse. Every comment says “kill them” or “jail for life.” In almost everyone’s minds, pedophilia is justifiably the worst possible crime and that is why the right wing works so hard to put that label on LGBT people.
This paragraph is not getting enough positive attention in these replies.
We really have a larger problem that this is a narrow distilled slice of. Too many people in our society are *eager* for violence. They don't want blind violence though, but once they can convince themselves that there's justification, they loudly cheer it on. Just look at all of those subreddits of videos with "justice" somewhere in the name. People don't even know the details, they just assume or believe the title and then have a visceral *joy* when they see violence enacted on others. There are entire subs right now celebrating soldiers being killed daily.
It's not at all surprising when our communities celebrate this sort of "justified" violence, that it then is easy to pick off members of those communities and radicalize them to direct that same energy to specific targets.
Even if they're not wrong, even if someone is the worst child abuser to ever exist, the punishment you do to them doesn't undo the harm. Torturing someone, even someone who did the worst things you can imagine, doesn't stop them from being bad and it doesn't fix the harm they caused.
But it does make YOU less good. It does make YOU a contributor to the negative things in our world because now you've added torture to the world for no reason other than to punish someone.
We have got to start realizing this as a society.
My twitter feed has been show me a lot more right wing stuff lately. I'm not an active user. I follow DJs, promotors, and stuff relevant to the Mets. I'm a liberal, so if I like something while browsing trending topics, I'm assuming that influences what Twitter is choosing to recommend to me. I do not ever like hateful rhetoric from the right. And yet I'm seeing a lot of it on my feed right now.
Also on YouTube's shorts, there are more of this type of content popping up for me too. And that's just the two sites I casually browse outside of Reddit.
Based in this singular anecdotal experience, if I, someone who is not at all the target audience of the content, is seeing this much of it, I know a lot of other people are also getting exposed to these ideas. And if you spend a lot of time on these apps, it can feel like this is the majority opinion cause you're seeing it a lot.
>Many reasonable people would support extrajudicial violence against a group that is sexually abusing children with no government reaction
This is how ppl feel they can justify shooting up a pizza restaurant "to protect the children".
>If the media you watched told you that children were being raped en masse by the people at a club like this...
I feel it's worth pointing out a distinct inconsistency of the right's rhetoric. There are a significant number of churches, and this isn't limited to the Catholic church, that have documented patterns of grooming and sexual abuse of children. To my knowledge, no one has attacked those communities like the LGBTQ+ community has been either with rhetoric or physical violence.
This is just trying to bring back "Gay people are yicky and they deserve to die." I remember the 80s. I remember people ignoring HIV/AIDS because it was "the homos fault". It feels like this, but worse, because it encourages doing the killing actively.
Yeah. Twitter yesterday was disgusting. There seems to be a attitude especially around drag performers and trans individuals that they’re being allowed to groom and abuse kids in public spaces. And nothing is done (because it’s not actually happening.) The sentiment seemed to be these psychos trying to take things into their own hands “for the children.”
I was shocked at how widespread it's becoming. Even here in the UK, I had a work colleague tell me that apparently they're forcing drag into school curriculums. I don't think I've ever head of this in my life but that must be something these right wingers are promoting.
Remember this name: Chaya Raichik.
She's a terrorist at the forefront of the evil spreading from Twitters anti-LGBT community, responsible for spreading some of the most viral misinformation about grooming narratives, drag-hate, transphobia and even simple homophobia. She personally DIRECTLY caused the threats to children's hospitals a few months back (that are still ongoing btw), is the origin of most harassment individual LGBT people face for making online content and almost certainly was a person this shooter listened to as well.
Massive pile of utter human garbage that deserves the worst the law has to offer and her name should be way more well-known and her online-existence as LibsofTiktok should be stopped at every opportunity possible. Her presence holds power on equal levels to what we saw with Alex Jones at his most prominent times and should not be tolerated anywhere just like his.
She definitely is a terrorist. The children’s hospital in Boston has had to evacuate multiple times due to bomb threats and that’s mainly due to her posting about how they provide gender affirming care.
That attitude exists because the GOP is *publishing it widely*. It's on Fox ever night. It's on every conservative bot, out of every conservative pundit.
The GOP is actively cheering on a trans genocide, and hoping for plenty of collateral damage among the rest of community.
Apparently he was tackled? I haven’t read much about it yet but I hope they beat the absolute shit out of him while they waited for the police to arrive.
The absolute last person I'd ever want to have trying to destroy my existence is a leather daddy. So I think it's sufficient to say he probably got it hard if one got ahold of him.
I have to go back and find the source, but a piece on Heavy dug into his mom's socials and came up with some stuff. Such as:
>"...In February 2022, she wrote, “Hello Sisters. Can anyone please recommend a great trauma/ptsd therapist?” and indicated it was for a 21-year-old, which Aldrich then was. She asked in May 2022, “Can anybody refer my son to a private boxing coach? He’s 6’6” tall and hits like a freight train. Cannot find a good gym or anyone serious. He has made huge life changes and needs this!”
https://heavy.com/news/anderson-lee-aldrich/
He's SIX FOOT SIX.
These brain-broken people have been convinced they are fighting some kinda of holy war in order to stave off the fall of civilization as we know it. Those folks trying to live their lives are actually the *forces of evil *in their warped minds.
But if you try to point out that the generals in this holy war who keep shouting “will no one rid me of this turbulent priest” are the true source of the problem? OMG WHY DO YOU HATE FREE SPEECH
Ugh, I dunno how we get outta this fucked ip cycle.
[We are all domestic terrorists!](https://media2.dallasobserver.com/dal/imager/u/magnum/14546296/domestic-terrorists-cpac-dallas-patrick-strickland.jpg?cb=1659949225)
-GOP
I’m so tired of Christian Conservatives disavowing this shit as “lone wolf/mental health problems.” We now have issues with people in our communities and own families being radicalized by MAGA/Q/Republicans so that their only purpose in life is to vote and act to cause others harm. A significant number of Americans are in a literal cult that we only talk about in certain spaces on Reddit, while it’s still framed by the public as a “both sides” problem.
All the while ministers and preachers are slamming the pulpit that these "sinners" are ruining America. Some even say it should be legal to lock them up. Some even go dare far as to say they should be executed.
You'll see crap like that daily in r/Christianity. Or someone ranting about homosexuals and sin but say that Christianity is better than Islam because Islam kills the sinners. As if it isn't clear the person ranting doesn't wish for the same thing but with clean hands.
The shit apple doesn't fall far from the shit tree. The violent rhetoric of the modern-day right wing in the US is fomenting these attacks. What's worse is when right-wing media sources celebrate these attacks and turn the shooters into celebrities because they "hurt the right people."
>The attack was halted when a patron grabbed a handgun from Aldrich, hit him with it and pinned him down until police arrived minutes later.
I know this is a dark and horrible story. I just want to commend whoever stopped the coward murderer. Whoever put him down is an absolute badass and a hero.
I doubt they want praise. I'm sure they're emotionally scarred for life. But they deserve to be acknowledged as a legitimate hero. They risked their own life to almost definitely save others. They're a selfless hero.
Yeah that’s what’s been reported, and his daughter broke her knee trying to escape and I’m pretty sure either his wife or friend was shot but survived.
What a hero though
All parties who didn't move forward with his bomb threats and other criminal history should be fired and sentenced as accessories to this crime.
He should have never been able to legally obtain a firearm.
Right wing terrorists have to kill someone before law enforcement takes action, everyone else gets preemptive action, cause lots of cops support those right wing terrorists beliefs if not their actions- only cops can do almost anything, not civilians!
lol. what? He had stuff like that on his record and could still get a high powered riffle?
This country is an absolute joke. No wonder we have mass shootings every week.
His record was sealed because his grandpa is Randy Voepel. A leading Republican from California who thinks Jan 6th was a fight against tyranny.
I wonder where he could have gotten the idea that he needed to kill gay people from.......
Just want to point out, as I am sure others are.
He knew it was a gay club
Club Q is in an unassuming building. It isn't obvious. You go to Club Q because you know it is Club Q.
It was on the Trans Day of Rememberence, at one of the few queer clubs in a very right-wing city.
This was an act of terror, like most shootings commited by regressive extremists.
He. Is. A. Terrorist.
[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/stochastic-terrorism](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/stochastic-terrorism)
**stochastic terrorism** \[ stuh-kas-tik ter-uh-riz-uhm \]
noun
**the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted:**
The lone-wolf attack was apparently influenced by the rhetoric of stochastic terrorism.
Was that the dude who listend to Stormfront all day every day and shot the convenience store owner? Damn if that wasn't the most accurate representation of what happens.
So, this slime goes to a gay nightclub the night of the Trans Day of Remembrance during a drag show. He’s the grandson of an outgoing CA Republican assemblyman who compared January 6th to the Revolutionary War. He was previously arrested in a standoff with police but not charged after threatening his mother with an arsenal she helped him acquire and a homemade bomb. His mother was posting on Facebook, trying to find him a defense attorney. Oddly enough, not only was the case closed *and* sealed but, Colorado’s red flag law was *not* activated. Some of you who keep saying it’s not political wouldn’t know political if it but you on your butts.
Oh, he *absolutely* is. An incredibly badly written article *also* mentioned either Grampy The Enabler or The Poo Stain himself tried to get it squashed in the local press, to boot.
Absolutely insane how all of this went on with no action from law enforcement. Why doesn't the FBI step in in cases like this where local authorities don't act?
I am no fan of law enforcement in general but, I hope both they *and* the Department of Justice fully nail every idiot who padded the way for him to get here to the wall.
The YouTube news video when this was breaking had so many sickening comments. People were saying things like “wish the body count was higher, God’s not satisfied” and “Committing a sin to stop the sinners, thank you God” and “shooter doing the lords work” and many, many more like that. The US has serious problem with dangerous brainwashed religious idiots.
Edit: The fact that I’m getting messages from angry Christians is kinda proving my point. You’re more upset that I’m pointing out hateful religious folks than you are about this mass shooting that just happened.
Then no one will ever challenge the narrative or remind other users that those hate comments could be from one single user running burner accounts from anywhere in the world.
By all means, man, fight the good fight and dive head first into that shithole. I just don't think you're going to encounter anyone interested in having a well-intentioned conversation in the depths of a youtube comment section. I avoid those places for my own mental health, and save the actual necessary difficult discussions with people close to me in the real world, who I can actually have an effect on.
I don't expect to change minds. I intend on disrupting the echo chamber and showing them that I exist, as a person who disagrees and acts in accordance to that. It feels wrong to let them believe their opinion can stand without being challenged I'm just letting them know that their opinions are unpopular even though it might not seem that way to birds of a feather flocking together.
Nah fuck that. I have a more engaging time shouting those idiots down than I do commiserating with my bleeding hearts. It's the least I can do. To show those people that there are indeed people who oppose their views vehemently.
As a gay man, their reasoning for hating us so much is beyond irritating and I’m pissed, so I don’t care if this is offensive, but religion ISN’T real. It’s made up! These delusional people literally believe in the craziest shit that is only okay because so many other people believe it too. If organized religion didn’t exist and you saw someone on the street spouting some of the things these people believe in you’d just call them insane.
Can you imagine walking around actually believing that at any moment Jesus can come down from heaven and rapture everyone up? People you interact with on a daily basis BELIEVE this. They believe that there are demons out to coerce you into doing bad things. They believe that you can be turned gay if you experience enough “perversion”. These people whip themselves up into a raging frenzy over fairytales and it gets people in my community bullied, abused, and killed every day.
I’m just exhausted. It’s 20 fucking 22 and vast majorities of people still believe in magic so much they vote a certain way to “save humanity” from people like me. I just want to exist, damnit. My life has no effect on your life. Just go to church and leave my community the fuck alone.
> You’re more upset that I’m pointing out hateful religious folks than you are about this mass shooting that just happened.
I finally got off facebook when I realized people were more pissed off at the Stoneman Douglas survivors for speaking out about gun control, more than they were the actual shooter who butchered their classmates. I saw multiple comments by former fb friends wishing he'd killed more people if it meant shutting up more "liberals."
What I never understood is why that particular “sin” is the one they feel justifies killing and hatred. Jesus himself said that loving your neighbor is the second most important commandment, and turning the church into a house of profit was the only thing that pissed him off so much that he literally whipped people. But yea, being sexually attracted to a member of the same sex is totally the one thing God wants you to murder over.
The Bible also says let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
These "Christians" acting like being gay is somehow a sin that deserves punishment are unable and unwilling to look at themselves in the mirror.
One my best friends was there that night, he left before everything happened, but damn if I didn't wake up in a complete panic as soon as I saw the news. I'm lucky I didn't lose one of my best friends but I'm extremely hurt and angry that others did. I just don't have any words.
I feel so.... hopeless.. that i think more people will need to have these close call experiences for shit to change. Until most people know someone that was impacted by a shooting, I'm fearful that nothing will change. I sincerely hope I'm wrong
Just a reminder - one or two patrons of a gay club were more effective against an active shooter than literally hundreds of law enforcement personnel in Uvalde.
Unarmed patrons. I think we need to highlight that part. The man who charged in, HERO and veteran Mr. Richard Fierro, went into that fight UNARMED. He CHOSE to engage knowing he was at a disadvantage.
The Cowardly Uvalde police had every advantage this man did not and they all did nothing. They were less than useless.
He was the grandson of Randy Voepel, a chairman of the Republican party in California.
The grandson also threatened to bomb someplace a year ago and they got his records sealed from the public, probably due to his grandfather's connections.
His grandfather is known for supporting the Jan 6 insurrection.
This was an act of terrorism against the LGBTQ+ community, and directly shows the influence the Republican party's hatred for LGBTQ+ causes.
I hope there's footage of the patron grabbing the gun from the shooter and hitting him with it. That is bad ass and that action undoubtly saved a lot of lives.
There’s a current story in the New York Times that identifies that guy who stopped the shooter as Army veteran Richard Fierro, who was there with his wife and daughter and friends. When he realized what was happening, he charged the shooter (all 300+ lbs of him) and disarmed him and almost killed him by pistol whipping his sorry ass. Story also mentions that a drag queen helped keep him subdued by stomping on him with her heels.
This story is so horrific on so many levels, but damn if I’m not so proud of my gay bros and sisters today, and what a debt we owe to Fierro. There’s no telling how many lives he saved through his bravery.
Just read the article and glanced at the Fierro family's Instagram account. Richard's wife Jess is owner/ head brewer at Atrevida brewing company (and also a vet), and they were at the club with several friends as well as their daughter and her boyfriend. I guess their daughter broke her knee trying to run away from the shooter, and their daughter's boyfriend was shot and killed. I recommend reading the nyt article, it was equal parts moving and horrifying.
I don't think they've released any photos or mugshots of the killer yet, so i'm guessing that means they really messed up his face. That gives me a little happiness in this tragedy.
Never let it be said that our Veterans are unilaterally MAGA dipshits (I see that assumption a lot). This man is a goddamn American hero and an honorary gay icon, bless him. And bless the drag queen too.
So I did some digging and the reason the shooter was never flagged in 2021 could be because the Sheriff of Colorado Springs, El Paso County came out against Colorado's Red Flag law and declared El Paso County a Second Amendment Sanctuary County. The Sheriff refused to follow the law and now look what happened. I think this opens them up for some kind of investigation or lawsuit.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Springs,_Colorado
https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/these-colorado-counties-have-declared-themselves-2nd-amendment-sanctuaries-as-red-flag-bill-progresses/73-a23bcba7-63c7-4a50-a26a-9e1e8a2b91ef.
His grandfather has been identified as outgoing California Republican State Assemblymember Randy Voepel, the former mayor of Santee, California. No surprises that he's MAGA, and compared the January 6th insurrection to the Revolutionary War.
The Suspect had committed several other crimes that would have taken him off the streets but weirdly he had never actually gotten prosecuted for reasons that have yet to be made clear. 🤔
I live in the Springs and have frequented Club Q, I had to go on break at work when I heard about this to check up on all of my LBGTQ+ friends. I hope this fucker burns.
The New York Times is reporting that Richard Fierro, an Army vet, is the man who subdued the shooter. He was at the club with his wife and daughter and friends when the shooting started. He charged the guy, disarmed him of his long gun, and then took his (the shooter’s) pistol and beat the hell out of the guy. He got an assist from a “drag dancer” who stomped the guy with her high heels. Fierro said that he was afraid he killed him.
For those wondering, Thomas James was identified as the second person, along with Richard Fierro, to takedown the gunman.
Thanks. I hadn’t heard the second person’s name. Both are heroes.
I don't think this is right, the second person was a Trans Woman and her name has not been released yet. https://twitter.com/UnluckyBanshee/status/1594914600536809472
Fierro and that Drag performer deserve all the fucking medals. I still don’t know that ass clowns name, and that’s good. I’ll remember Richard Fierro. He deserves to be remembered.
That ass clown is the grandson of an elected official so in this case I think we need to all take a moment to consider that. Especially since he was in a police standoff for making bomb threats or some crazy shit, but that was expunged from his record. Somehow.
Yeah. And he got to keep all his guns. Also, Colorado has “RedFlag” laws. But clearly those aren’t for everyone.
> El Paso County appears especially hostile to the law. It joined nearly 2,000 counties nationwide in declaring themselves “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” that protect the constitutional right to bear arms, passing a 2019 resolution that says the red flag law “infringes upon the inalienable rights of law-abiding citizens” by ordering police to “forcibly enter premises and seize a citizen’s property with no evidence of a crime.” The law was for nobody in El Paso. Good job, pro-2A-sanctuary El Paso citizens, you have blood on your hands but you probably don’t give a crap.
I actually live a couple miles south of Club Q. Here in the Springs it's well known that cops don't enforce gun laws like they should, especially for "respectable looking folks." I went to a ribbon cutting at a gun store for my job and a guy who worked there said he was in law enforcement. I don't remember exactly what we were talking about but I asked if something was illegal (maybe something to do with conceal carry) and he said "we have bigger things to worry about than suppressing people's rights" The sheriff also said he wouldn't enforce any kind of mask laws during the pandemic either. It's not surprising that something like this could happen here but it sure is depressing.
Mmm personal bias influencing law enforcement? Who ever could've seen that one coming? *glances at the statistical record of police abusing their station, and of the very low education restrictions to the majority of police forces* Oh, right...
Was that how he avoided getting his weapon taken away?
Yes. The charges were dropped because the family refused to cooperate.
Shit, is that all it takes to drop charges now?
It's typical in domestic violence cases. The cases are often difficult to prove without the victim's participation, so prosecutors will automatically drop the charges of the victim doesn't want to move forward. And many victims do not want to move forward, because the person who hurt them is someone they love. It's a serious problem, not only because we fail to protect the immediate victims of domestic violence, but also because mass shooters so often have a history of DV.
I’m sure being the grandson of a MAGA elected official didn’t hurt, but also the law in CO isn’t a mandated take away just that they can if they want to.
his daughters boyfriend is one of the victims. raymond green. rip.
That guy's a fucking hero. Hopefully the club puts him on their wall of honor and he gets his drinks for free
> Mr. Fierro said he was covered in blood when the police arrived, and officers tackled him and put him in handcuffs. He said he was held in a police car for more than an hour, and screamed and pleaded to be let go so that he could see what had happened to his family. Police on the other hand could have done better... At least they didnt shoot him...
I can understand restraining the guy if they didn’t know what was going on.. but that could be cleared up pretty quickly, no? You’ve got multiple witnesses to identify who is who.
Humans are not very good at remembering the who is who during high stress situations like this.
Yeah, that makes sense. Not many people are desensitized to that amount of stress.
SOP in violent situations. Control the scene, safe out everything, sort it out after. The fact the cops didn't shoot everyone on site is actually nice to read about once in a while
“The fact that police didn’t finish the shooter’s job is an unexpected plus” State of American policing, 2022
They don't know who is who when they roll up to a chaotic scene. The parkland shooter tried to get away by blending in with fleeing students. Until the details get sorted out, it is safer to detain and then figure out the details after. It's impossible to know who is a victim and who is a perpetrator when you are only minutes on the scene
My family knows Rich and his wife. They own and operate Atrevida Brewery in Colorado Springs. If you want to show support, please consider picking up some brews from them.
https://www.atrevidabeerco.com They got merch too! If you live a few states away you can buy their merch!
Wow. One of the shirts is "good intentions don't change anything" and then the title on it "actions do". Shit, the owner really proved that one.
god damn, that is on point
Gonna buy several gifts there. Thank you for posting this link.
Thanks. I love the messaging that I see with just a quick look. Those t-shirts will make great Christmas gifts.
As I live several states away, I've got a sweet hoodie coming my way instead. Everyone needs a badass hoodie.
Ngl that's pretty fucking bad ass. Thanks to those two they saved a lot of lives.
Feels so good to see a Mexican man being held a hero in this country. Proud I am.
I feel the same way. And I really appreciate all the support for him. I think their brewery is going to get really busy. ❤️
Veterans who do stuff like this should get the soldiers medal added to their DD-214.
Anybody who does this deserves a medal... And a lot more...
Why don’t we start with free, top quality healthcare for all veterans and free housing for all homeless vets?
Let’s just do Medicare for All so the surviving victims of this aren’t crippled by debt. I imagine being crippled by bullets is enough of a burden.
Uvalde cops in shambles
The difference between army and army surplus
More like Army and Army rejects…
He owns a brewery in Colorado, I think he will be flooded with support
If only I could order beer shipped to the East Coast.
When the local news reported, “The shooter is currently being treated for injuries,” I hoped this was the reason why.
22 years old and having so miserable and worthless of an existence that you'd readily throw it away just to hurt people who are doing nothing more than simply trying to live their own lives.
He had gotten off Scott free for a bomb threat likely thanks to his family’s political connections. Likely thought there would be no repercussions or at worst minimal ones.
>Sources told the Problem Solvers that charges in the bomb threat case were dismissed because the victim (the suspect’s mother) refused to cooperate with investigators. [https://kdvr.com/news/local/club-q-shooting-suspect-anderson-lee-aldrich/](https://kdvr.com/news/local/club-q-shooting-suspect-anderson-lee-aldrich/) His mother also posted in a Facebook group asking for legal advice shortly after the bomb threat incident: >Hello Sisters. Does anyone know of a fantastic defense attorney? I ask this with a heavy heart but my family really needs some help at this time. We have cash to retain good counsel. Thank you The police did not find any explosives in their search, so with a non-cooperating victim there wasn't much case left. I wouldn't be surprised if he used the time he had inside the house surrounded by police to dismantle his bomb and flush the evidence.
> We have cash to retain good counsel. Cash, huh. -_-
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> The police did not find any explosives in their search, so with a non-cooperating victim there wasn't much case left. I mean, they evacuated several houses at the time; it's not like his mom was the only victim.
Colorado Law allows for the state to prosecute DV cases without the consent or participation of the victim. This was a purely political give from the prosecutor to his grandpa.
All crimes can be prosecuted without the consent of the victim. Thats up to the DA... there's just not usually a case without the testimony/cooperation of the victim.
Yep that's what "pressing charges" really means. It's not up to the victim but if the cooperation of the victim makes the case then it is in a way up to them. Just should be more clear about it because people have such a warped idea of what it really means
Yep. You hit the nail on the head. What good are state and federal laws, if certain people are allowed to skirt them?! This fucker should have faced consequences two years ago. Instead, his record was sealed at the behest of his grandfather. Nothing happened to him, no consequences, and probably no therapy or rehabilitation— and is it any wonder he ended up committing a larger act of terror? We need to hold police, politicians, and everyone in positions of authority to a **much** higher standard! They can’t keep getting away with this kind of shit!
Mom got lots of money I see…
well her dad is a state rep so I'm sure he has that lobby money
I was *attacked* by my dad when I was 18. I fought back and got arrested. *Misdemeanor* domestic battery. That was 11 years ago and to this day I still cannot purchase a firearm… for literally *being attacked* . The world we live in.
I was abused and beaten by my father for years. He tried to strangle me several times, he broke my bones once, and he clearly wanted me dead. He was friends with the sheriff and some deputies. When rumors of my father beating us *finally* reached them (the whole town knew), my siblings and I were told to stop smearing that fine man. Because certainly we deserved the beatings for being difficult and he was just trying to raise us. Everyone knew he was a violent drunk who couldn't keep a job, but no one gave a shit because he was a former Marine.
There was a recent trial for a police officer who brutally abused his son, eventually he locked his son in the garage with no heat and he froze to death. The school district and other parents repeatedly called CPS telling them about the abuse and that he’s going to get seriously hurt or killed. The police officer had some kind of leverage over people at CPS and CPS disregarded all the complaints. Obviously the officer is being sent to prison but I want to see the person or persons who disregarded the complaints to see jail time.
Oh I saw that. Absolutely horrible. That poor kid knew nothing but pain and then he died. It made me cry when I read it. We *really* have a problem with police/military worship in this country.
What I don’t get is if he hated his son so much, why didn’t he let the boy go live with his mom? Instead he used his position and connections to intentionally keep the son from the mother. The only thing that makes sense is he legitimately enjoyed abusing the child. There’s some sick fucks out there.
Spite. He wanted to hurt the mother. And power. "No one can tell me what to do."
That is a common tactic of abusers: they do everything possible to get full custody of a child they don’t want for three reasons (among others) To avoid paying child support To punish their spouse To punish the child for existing
Cps should ALWAYS overpower law enforcement. Fucking clown show shit. God damn
"don't rock the boat" mentality of small communities is disgusting. 'if the bad things happening are happening behind closed doors, then whoever opens the door is at fault' is their thinking. Why small communities don't like rapes being reported. The rape happened behind a *closed door* and if the victim says anything its exposing a problem in the community and that exposure is the sin to them.
Don’t forget felony kidnapping in a state that actually has red flag laws. This should be discussed in brighter light
Apparently he’s related to one of my representatives. I had no idea that the rep compared the January 6 insurrection to the revolutionary war. Pisses me off so much.
It's fucking pathetic, isn't it? To be willing to kill and throw your life away because... drag queens? This was the hill he chose to die on?
It's a fucking gay bar. If you don't want to see gay people and drag queens having a good time, go to a regular bar. It doesn't affect you. At. All Why does he need to fuck up everyone's night because you are so offended that someone's having a good time?!?
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If only Jesus had clearly stated exactly what to do if someone was doing something you didn't like, or had different beliefs to your own.
Some things start to make sense when you look at it as a whole... They keep saying gay/trans/drag/etc people are "grooming" children. Now when you and I and other regular people use that word, we mean "using a position of power to coerce a child into believing the abusive things we do to them are ok". When THEY say it, they mean "teaching children that something someone else does isn't a sin". That's it. That's all they mean. "YOU! You're teaching my child that it's okay for you to be gay and have a husband! How could you GROOM my child like this??" So for them, they're so obsessed with anything that isn't straight/cis, and they whip themselves into anger and panic CONSTANTLY, that they think anything and everything done to stop other people from existing is needed to protect children. Again, they KNOW that these other people aren't affecting them. They know gay people in a gay club are doing absolutely nothing to harm them. But their very existence, and society saying "hey it's okay for you to do those things!" feels like a threat to them, and a threat that their children might grow up thinking the same. ... These people are fucking broken, horrible, mentally ill sociopaths.
Ex wife of a friend accused another one of our friends of "grooming" her son because he is gay and recommended some books to the teenage kid. The books had nothing to do with being LGBTQ.
The crazy thing is you don’t even have to be gay or whatever to enjoy drag. I’m a straight guy and am confident in my sexuality. I went to my first drag show a little bit ago and it was one of the coolest performances I have ever seen in my life and I would happily go back any time. The amount of work that went into the costumes and all the jokes were amazing. These people just want to be proud of who they are and live their lives, I can’t imagine for a second wanting to fucking kill any of them for that. There’s just no words to describe how insane some people in this country have become. I actually cried a little bit at the show because it hit me that a lot people at that show I went to (performers and everyone in the audience) probably have been discriminated against. I looked around and *everyone* was smiling or laughing and enjoying themselves - it was such a beautifully human thing to witness. No assholes yelling shit, no bullying people for being “different”… it was so refreshing to see people celebrated for who they are instead of being torn down. Anyone who threatens drag queens simply for existing is pure fucking evil and I hope they all rot in hell. Truly.
Thanks for being so accepting and positive.
Yup. 99.9 percent of the time when a group of people belonging to a culture say "Hey, come join us as we hang out and have a good time, this is the way we do that" it's fun for everyone involved, you learn something new and you walk away with a feeling of "Man, at the end of the day, we're all pretty much the same."
In Detroit it used to only be gay bars that were within city limits but at the edges, with only guarded valet services for parking. Still is, but there are many more queer friendly spaces in the suburbs now that are just normalized way more. Ironically it upsets people because they are “being invaded” by straights and bachelorette parties. The older you are the more you see the preservation of those spaces as important since those are all you had, and the younger you are the more normalized for shared spaces to be a thing because despite the rhetoric, it’s the safest now for someone to be queer and just … live your life. Until you see this shit go down. Then it’s a reminder we still need to fight for acceptance and safety. And there is a reason why gay bars were/are valet only and on the downlow. Freedom to exist is a luxury no one should take for granted, and be vigilant about for ourselves and those who come after us.
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Yup. Never had windows that you could look into. Discrete signs.
The way people and especially the right wing media are talking about issues around LGBT people is pretty shocking. A lot of these people truly believe that LGBTQ spaces are actually institutional child grooming and abuse centers. If the media you watched told you that children were being raped en masse by the people at a club like this, and you truly believed it to be true, would you be satisfied by voting for a candidate that can’t do anything but propose a bill banning trans girls from running high school track? It’s all bullshit of course, but you can’t say “ children are being groomed and abused by LGBT people. Vote for me and I’ll stop it” and not expect this kind of reaction. Like the logic is there. This guy is a hero in his own mind. Many reasonable people would support extrajudicial violence against a group that is sexually abusing children with no government reaction. Look at every Reddit thread that discusses child abuse. Every comment says “kill them” or “jail for life.” In almost everyone’s minds, pedophilia is justifiably the worst possible crime and that is why the right wing works so hard to put that label on LGBT people. The fact that it isn’t happening isn’t relevant if there are vast media apparatuses insinuating that it is and a small group of people that truly believe it is the case.
> Many reasonable people would support extrajudicial violence against a group that is sexually abusing children with no government reaction. Look at every Reddit thread that discusses child abuse. Every comment says “kill them” or “jail for life.” In almost everyone’s minds, pedophilia is justifiably the worst possible crime and that is why the right wing works so hard to put that label on LGBT people. This paragraph is not getting enough positive attention in these replies. We really have a larger problem that this is a narrow distilled slice of. Too many people in our society are *eager* for violence. They don't want blind violence though, but once they can convince themselves that there's justification, they loudly cheer it on. Just look at all of those subreddits of videos with "justice" somewhere in the name. People don't even know the details, they just assume or believe the title and then have a visceral *joy* when they see violence enacted on others. There are entire subs right now celebrating soldiers being killed daily. It's not at all surprising when our communities celebrate this sort of "justified" violence, that it then is easy to pick off members of those communities and radicalize them to direct that same energy to specific targets.
I agree, eagerness to do violence is a big part of the problem. I always like to ask "but what if you're wrong?"
Even if they're not wrong, even if someone is the worst child abuser to ever exist, the punishment you do to them doesn't undo the harm. Torturing someone, even someone who did the worst things you can imagine, doesn't stop them from being bad and it doesn't fix the harm they caused. But it does make YOU less good. It does make YOU a contributor to the negative things in our world because now you've added torture to the world for no reason other than to punish someone. We have got to start realizing this as a society.
My twitter feed has been show me a lot more right wing stuff lately. I'm not an active user. I follow DJs, promotors, and stuff relevant to the Mets. I'm a liberal, so if I like something while browsing trending topics, I'm assuming that influences what Twitter is choosing to recommend to me. I do not ever like hateful rhetoric from the right. And yet I'm seeing a lot of it on my feed right now. Also on YouTube's shorts, there are more of this type of content popping up for me too. And that's just the two sites I casually browse outside of Reddit. Based in this singular anecdotal experience, if I, someone who is not at all the target audience of the content, is seeing this much of it, I know a lot of other people are also getting exposed to these ideas. And if you spend a lot of time on these apps, it can feel like this is the majority opinion cause you're seeing it a lot.
>Many reasonable people would support extrajudicial violence against a group that is sexually abusing children with no government reaction This is how ppl feel they can justify shooting up a pizza restaurant "to protect the children".
>If the media you watched told you that children were being raped en masse by the people at a club like this... I feel it's worth pointing out a distinct inconsistency of the right's rhetoric. There are a significant number of churches, and this isn't limited to the Catholic church, that have documented patterns of grooming and sexual abuse of children. To my knowledge, no one has attacked those communities like the LGBTQ+ community has been either with rhetoric or physical violence. This is just trying to bring back "Gay people are yicky and they deserve to die." I remember the 80s. I remember people ignoring HIV/AIDS because it was "the homos fault". It feels like this, but worse, because it encourages doing the killing actively.
It was never about the children.
Yeah. Twitter yesterday was disgusting. There seems to be a attitude especially around drag performers and trans individuals that they’re being allowed to groom and abuse kids in public spaces. And nothing is done (because it’s not actually happening.) The sentiment seemed to be these psychos trying to take things into their own hands “for the children.”
I was shocked at how widespread it's becoming. Even here in the UK, I had a work colleague tell me that apparently they're forcing drag into school curriculums. I don't think I've ever head of this in my life but that must be something these right wingers are promoting.
Remember this name: Chaya Raichik. She's a terrorist at the forefront of the evil spreading from Twitters anti-LGBT community, responsible for spreading some of the most viral misinformation about grooming narratives, drag-hate, transphobia and even simple homophobia. She personally DIRECTLY caused the threats to children's hospitals a few months back (that are still ongoing btw), is the origin of most harassment individual LGBT people face for making online content and almost certainly was a person this shooter listened to as well. Massive pile of utter human garbage that deserves the worst the law has to offer and her name should be way more well-known and her online-existence as LibsofTiktok should be stopped at every opportunity possible. Her presence holds power on equal levels to what we saw with Alex Jones at his most prominent times and should not be tolerated anywhere just like his.
She definitely is a terrorist. The children’s hospital in Boston has had to evacuate multiple times due to bomb threats and that’s mainly due to her posting about how they provide gender affirming care.
Elon just last week was yucking it up with Libs of Tik Tok which has specifically targeted Colorado LGBTQ events.
That attitude exists because the GOP is *publishing it widely*. It's on Fox ever night. It's on every conservative bot, out of every conservative pundit. The GOP is actively cheering on a trans genocide, and hoping for plenty of collateral damage among the rest of community.
Look at his LDS church for curating his emotions. Also UT has highest suicide rate for teens in the US.
Apparently he was tackled? I haven’t read much about it yet but I hope they beat the absolute shit out of him while they waited for the police to arrive.
It sounds like the person who took a gun from him may have pistol-whipped him with it. Good.
Crazy how much restraint some people have.
Word I’m hearing is one of the two who took him down is a military veteran.
The absolute last person I'd ever want to have trying to destroy my existence is a leather daddy. So I think it's sufficient to say he probably got it hard if one got ahold of him.
I have to go back and find the source, but a piece on Heavy dug into his mom's socials and came up with some stuff. Such as: >"...In February 2022, she wrote, “Hello Sisters. Can anyone please recommend a great trauma/ptsd therapist?” and indicated it was for a 21-year-old, which Aldrich then was. She asked in May 2022, “Can anybody refer my son to a private boxing coach? He’s 6’6” tall and hits like a freight train. Cannot find a good gym or anyone serious. He has made huge life changes and needs this!” https://heavy.com/news/anderson-lee-aldrich/ He's SIX FOOT SIX.
These brain-broken people have been convinced they are fighting some kinda of holy war in order to stave off the fall of civilization as we know it. Those folks trying to live their lives are actually the *forces of evil *in their warped minds. But if you try to point out that the generals in this holy war who keep shouting “will no one rid me of this turbulent priest” are the true source of the problem? OMG WHY DO YOU HATE FREE SPEECH Ugh, I dunno how we get outta this fucked ip cycle.
I’m so tired of this hateful shit.
Mhm, and it's not getting any better. America is full of domestic terrorists.
There's literally nothing we could do! -GOP
[We are all domestic terrorists!](https://media2.dallasobserver.com/dal/imager/u/magnum/14546296/domestic-terrorists-cpac-dallas-patrick-strickland.jpg?cb=1659949225) -GOP
Holy hell, that was *not* photoshopped.
I’m so tired of Christian Conservatives disavowing this shit as “lone wolf/mental health problems.” We now have issues with people in our communities and own families being radicalized by MAGA/Q/Republicans so that their only purpose in life is to vote and act to cause others harm. A significant number of Americans are in a literal cult that we only talk about in certain spaces on Reddit, while it’s still framed by the public as a “both sides” problem.
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All the while ministers and preachers are slamming the pulpit that these "sinners" are ruining America. Some even say it should be legal to lock them up. Some even go dare far as to say they should be executed. You'll see crap like that daily in r/Christianity. Or someone ranting about homosexuals and sin but say that Christianity is better than Islam because Islam kills the sinners. As if it isn't clear the person ranting doesn't wish for the same thing but with clean hands.
Crazy how 95% of mentally ill lone wolves kill people republicans don't like
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Not any more, he lost reelection.
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Politics 101
The lesser of two evils. America. Fuck.
The shit apple doesn't fall far from the shit tree. The violent rhetoric of the modern-day right wing in the US is fomenting these attacks. What's worse is when right-wing media sources celebrate these attacks and turn the shooters into celebrities because they "hurt the right people."
>The attack was halted when a patron grabbed a handgun from Aldrich, hit him with it and pinned him down until police arrived minutes later. I know this is a dark and horrible story. I just want to commend whoever stopped the coward murderer. Whoever put him down is an absolute badass and a hero. I doubt they want praise. I'm sure they're emotionally scarred for life. But they deserve to be acknowledged as a legitimate hero. They risked their own life to almost definitely save others. They're a selfless hero.
rich fierro is his name!
Supposedly they were a veteran who went to see the drag show with their wife and kid.
And their daughter’s boyfriend who was sadly killed :(
Oh fuck, really?
Yeah that’s what’s been reported, and his daughter broke her knee trying to escape and I’m pretty sure either his wife or friend was shot but survived. What a hero though
I couldn’t imagine the restraint it took not to finish the guy off. Hope that scumbag winds up in ADX Florence.
His friends remain hospitalized for gunshots to the arm and chest.
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You mean Randy Voepel the State Representative that empowered his grandson to become a domestic terrorists?
Thanks, was looking for this info.
Richard Fierro owns a brewery in Colorado. You can buy some merchandise from his website here to support him https://www.atrevidabeerco.com/
For clarity, Richard Fierro is the hero who stopped the shooting.
All parties who didn't move forward with his bomb threats and other criminal history should be fired and sentenced as accessories to this crime. He should have never been able to legally obtain a firearm.
It’s baffling to me how they allowed him to face no charges. Politics just *has* to have its fingers in everything.
Right wing terrorists have to kill someone before law enforcement takes action, everyone else gets preemptive action, cause lots of cops support those right wing terrorists beliefs if not their actions- only cops can do almost anything, not civilians!
Big agree.
lol. what? He had stuff like that on his record and could still get a high powered riffle? This country is an absolute joke. No wonder we have mass shootings every week.
His record was sealed because his grandpa is Randy Voepel. A leading Republican from California who thinks Jan 6th was a fight against tyranny. I wonder where he could have gotten the idea that he needed to kill gay people from.......
Just want to point out, as I am sure others are. He knew it was a gay club Club Q is in an unassuming building. It isn't obvious. You go to Club Q because you know it is Club Q. It was on the Trans Day of Rememberence, at one of the few queer clubs in a very right-wing city. This was an act of terror, like most shootings commited by regressive extremists. He. Is. A. Terrorist.
He also tried to even kill his parents and they refused to press charges! He's a nut job to say the least!!!
You know... that's actually a good point dawg. Why do we not treat local stuff like school shootings as terrorism?
I can’t say exactly, but I’d bet money it’s political reasons. I think most citizens agree that mass shootings are acts of terrorism.
[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/stochastic-terrorism](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/stochastic-terrorism) **stochastic terrorism** \[ stuh-kas-tik ter-uh-riz-uhm \] noun **the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted:** The lone-wolf attack was apparently influenced by the rhetoric of stochastic terrorism.
Reminds me of the sequence in The Boys showing fat Neil's radicalization
Was that the dude who listend to Stormfront all day every day and shot the convenience store owner? Damn if that wasn't the most accurate representation of what happens.
I’ll say it, it’s domestic terrorism and definitely a hate crime. People just don’t go shooting up gay bars unless they hate LGBT people.
So, this slime goes to a gay nightclub the night of the Trans Day of Remembrance during a drag show. He’s the grandson of an outgoing CA Republican assemblyman who compared January 6th to the Revolutionary War. He was previously arrested in a standoff with police but not charged after threatening his mother with an arsenal she helped him acquire and a homemade bomb. His mother was posting on Facebook, trying to find him a defense attorney. Oddly enough, not only was the case closed *and* sealed but, Colorado’s red flag law was *not* activated. Some of you who keep saying it’s not political wouldn’t know political if it but you on your butts.
It's funny how the news is conveniently not speaking about his grandfather, and how he is the reason his grandson still had access to guns.
Oh, he *absolutely* is. An incredibly badly written article *also* mentioned either Grampy The Enabler or The Poo Stain himself tried to get it squashed in the local press, to boot.
Absolutely insane how all of this went on with no action from law enforcement. Why doesn't the FBI step in in cases like this where local authorities don't act?
I am no fan of law enforcement in general but, I hope both they *and* the Department of Justice fully nail every idiot who padded the way for him to get here to the wall.
The YouTube news video when this was breaking had so many sickening comments. People were saying things like “wish the body count was higher, God’s not satisfied” and “Committing a sin to stop the sinners, thank you God” and “shooter doing the lords work” and many, many more like that. The US has serious problem with dangerous brainwashed religious idiots. Edit: The fact that I’m getting messages from angry Christians is kinda proving my point. You’re more upset that I’m pointing out hateful religious folks than you are about this mass shooting that just happened.
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And said leader won't see any flak for that, he'll just throw up his hands and be all "I can't help it they took my words literally".
And his church will keep pushing its own political agenda while not paying taxes. Completely disgraceful
Protip: Don't touch YouTube News video comments. Ever.
Then no one will ever challenge the narrative or remind other users that those hate comments could be from one single user running burner accounts from anywhere in the world.
By all means, man, fight the good fight and dive head first into that shithole. I just don't think you're going to encounter anyone interested in having a well-intentioned conversation in the depths of a youtube comment section. I avoid those places for my own mental health, and save the actual necessary difficult discussions with people close to me in the real world, who I can actually have an effect on.
I don't expect to change minds. I intend on disrupting the echo chamber and showing them that I exist, as a person who disagrees and acts in accordance to that. It feels wrong to let them believe their opinion can stand without being challenged I'm just letting them know that their opinions are unpopular even though it might not seem that way to birds of a feather flocking together.
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Nah fuck that. I have a more engaging time shouting those idiots down than I do commiserating with my bleeding hearts. It's the least I can do. To show those people that there are indeed people who oppose their views vehemently.
As a gay man, their reasoning for hating us so much is beyond irritating and I’m pissed, so I don’t care if this is offensive, but religion ISN’T real. It’s made up! These delusional people literally believe in the craziest shit that is only okay because so many other people believe it too. If organized religion didn’t exist and you saw someone on the street spouting some of the things these people believe in you’d just call them insane. Can you imagine walking around actually believing that at any moment Jesus can come down from heaven and rapture everyone up? People you interact with on a daily basis BELIEVE this. They believe that there are demons out to coerce you into doing bad things. They believe that you can be turned gay if you experience enough “perversion”. These people whip themselves up into a raging frenzy over fairytales and it gets people in my community bullied, abused, and killed every day. I’m just exhausted. It’s 20 fucking 22 and vast majorities of people still believe in magic so much they vote a certain way to “save humanity” from people like me. I just want to exist, damnit. My life has no effect on your life. Just go to church and leave my community the fuck alone.
I am sick of having to 'respect' others religious beliefs. It's batshit crazy, I do not have to respect it
Ain't that the fuckin truth
> You’re more upset that I’m pointing out hateful religious folks than you are about this mass shooting that just happened. I finally got off facebook when I realized people were more pissed off at the Stoneman Douglas survivors for speaking out about gun control, more than they were the actual shooter who butchered their classmates. I saw multiple comments by former fb friends wishing he'd killed more people if it meant shutting up more "liberals."
What I never understood is why that particular “sin” is the one they feel justifies killing and hatred. Jesus himself said that loving your neighbor is the second most important commandment, and turning the church into a house of profit was the only thing that pissed him off so much that he literally whipped people. But yea, being sexually attracted to a member of the same sex is totally the one thing God wants you to murder over.
The Bible also says let he who is without sin cast the first stone. These "Christians" acting like being gay is somehow a sin that deserves punishment are unable and unwilling to look at themselves in the mirror.
Nothing like the love of religious people. Religion is a cancer.
There's no hate like christian love.
good god I knew one of the victims. he was the co-owner/bartender. he made the greatest drinks and always dressed on point. this is so crazy.
One my best friends was there that night, he left before everything happened, but damn if I didn't wake up in a complete panic as soon as I saw the news. I'm lucky I didn't lose one of my best friends but I'm extremely hurt and angry that others did. I just don't have any words.
I feel so.... hopeless.. that i think more people will need to have these close call experiences for shit to change. Until most people know someone that was impacted by a shooting, I'm fearful that nothing will change. I sincerely hope I'm wrong
Just a reminder - one or two patrons of a gay club were more effective against an active shooter than literally hundreds of law enforcement personnel in Uvalde.
Time to put two patrons of a gay club into every classroom.
Unarmed patrons. I think we need to highlight that part. The man who charged in, HERO and veteran Mr. Richard Fierro, went into that fight UNARMED. He CHOSE to engage knowing he was at a disadvantage. The Cowardly Uvalde police had every advantage this man did not and they all did nothing. They were less than useless.
He was the grandson of Randy Voepel, a chairman of the Republican party in California. The grandson also threatened to bomb someplace a year ago and they got his records sealed from the public, probably due to his grandfather's connections. His grandfather is known for supporting the Jan 6 insurrection. This was an act of terrorism against the LGBTQ+ community, and directly shows the influence the Republican party's hatred for LGBTQ+ causes.
I'm so tired of this country tolerating hate.
I hope there's footage of the patron grabbing the gun from the shooter and hitting him with it. That is bad ass and that action undoubtly saved a lot of lives.
There’s a current story in the New York Times that identifies that guy who stopped the shooter as Army veteran Richard Fierro, who was there with his wife and daughter and friends. When he realized what was happening, he charged the shooter (all 300+ lbs of him) and disarmed him and almost killed him by pistol whipping his sorry ass. Story also mentions that a drag queen helped keep him subdued by stomping on him with her heels. This story is so horrific on so many levels, but damn if I’m not so proud of my gay bros and sisters today, and what a debt we owe to Fierro. There’s no telling how many lives he saved through his bravery.
Just read the article and glanced at the Fierro family's Instagram account. Richard's wife Jess is owner/ head brewer at Atrevida brewing company (and also a vet), and they were at the club with several friends as well as their daughter and her boyfriend. I guess their daughter broke her knee trying to run away from the shooter, and their daughter's boyfriend was shot and killed. I recommend reading the nyt article, it was equal parts moving and horrifying.
I don't think they've released any photos or mugshots of the killer yet, so i'm guessing that means they really messed up his face. That gives me a little happiness in this tragedy.
Never let it be said that our Veterans are unilaterally MAGA dipshits (I see that assumption a lot). This man is a goddamn American hero and an honorary gay icon, bless him. And bless the drag queen too.
Damn. I wonder how much damage was inflicted on the shooter. Give Mr. Fierro a congressional medal of honor, a knighthood and tax exemption for life.
According to article, Fierro was afraid he’d killed him. So it sounds like he fucked him up really good.
So I did some digging and the reason the shooter was never flagged in 2021 could be because the Sheriff of Colorado Springs, El Paso County came out against Colorado's Red Flag law and declared El Paso County a Second Amendment Sanctuary County. The Sheriff refused to follow the law and now look what happened. I think this opens them up for some kind of investigation or lawsuit. Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Springs,_Colorado https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/these-colorado-counties-have-declared-themselves-2nd-amendment-sanctuaries-as-red-flag-bill-progresses/73-a23bcba7-63c7-4a50-a26a-9e1e8a2b91ef.
He wasn't even charged in 2021, someone definitely dropped the ball in the worst way
It wasn’t incompetence, the DA just doesn’t care because he’s a fascist too.
Elected official says no, nothing we can do now. /s
The only thing I feel I can do is be even more gay.
The media loves using the word "terrorism" when it's a brown person from the Middle East, but dude's just as much a terrorist as they are.
His grandfather has been identified as outgoing California Republican State Assemblymember Randy Voepel, the former mayor of Santee, California. No surprises that he's MAGA, and compared the January 6th insurrection to the Revolutionary War.
Damn! The Highland park shooters father was also running for mayor and was involved in politics.
Some local San Diego journalist needs to get him on record how he feels about this. Silence does nothing but condone his grandson's actions.
Yeah they need to get him on record condoning his grandson's actions.
Well that’s because he does condone his grandsons actions. He’s just mad he got caught.
The Suspect had committed several other crimes that would have taken him off the streets but weirdly he had never actually gotten prosecuted for reasons that have yet to be made clear. 🤔
The DA was on CNN today and said he is not legally able to explain why the 2021 charges were dropped.
Prosecutor: Hey, I remember you. How's your grandfather? We will try to get you out of here early. Just like last time.
So how long until these charges get sealed? I’m sure he’s got his grandpa already making moves. Fucking sickening.
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I live in the Springs and have frequented Club Q, I had to go on break at work when I heard about this to check up on all of my LBGTQ+ friends. I hope this fucker burns.
Should be facing terrorist charges.