CNN political correspondent Errol Louis said the accused shooter at Club Q in Colorado Springs that left five people dead and 25 injured is claiming to identify as non-binary to avoid hate crime charges.
Anchor Alisyn Camerota said, “So, attorneys for the accused shooter, Anderson Lee Aldrich, say in new court filings tonight that the suspect now identifies as non-binary. In a footnote to a motion asserting legal privileges, the public defenders say, quote, ‘Anderson Aldrich is non-binary. They use they/them pronouns, and for the purposes of all formal filings, will be addressed as Mx. Aldrich.’ So, in other words, not Mr. or Ms.”
She added, “I don’t want to, say that’s not anything we heard from his background. People looking into his background, and I don’t know if anyone here — are you guys lawyers? I mean, you know, I don’t know what to say about that. That’s what he’s now saying.”
Louis said, “It sounds like they’re trying to prepare a defense against the hate crimes charge. That’s the least of his problems, legally speaking, but it looks like they’re trying to build some kind of sympathy or at least confusion on the question of whether or not this was purely motivated by hate.”
Camerota said, “That is what it sounds like.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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