Colorado Springs suspect’s father makes
homophobic remarks in interview
Man tells reporter he was relieved his child ‘wasn’t
gay’ after hearing about shooting
Edward
Helmore
Thu 24 Nov
2022 17.24 GMT
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/24/colorado-springs-shooting-father-interview
The father
of the suspected Colorado Springs shooter has provoked a backlash over comments
he made over the armed attack on LGTBQ+ bar that killed five and wounded 17.
In a series
of interviews, Aaron Brink told San Diego’s CBS8 that when he first received a
telephone call from his child’s public defender, his first reaction was to
question why his child was in the club.
“And then I
go on to find out it’s a gay bar. I said, ‘God, is he gay?’ I got scared,
‘Shit, is he gay?’ And he’s not gay, so I said, ‘Phew …’”
His
comments sparked anger online, condemning Brink for relief that his child was
“only a mass murderer and not a homosexual”.
Brink, a
mixed martial arts coach, told CBS8 that he had taught his child to fight,
saying he had offered praise “for violent behavior really early. I told him it
works. It is instant and you’ll get immediate results.”
The alleged
attacker, identified in court papers as 22-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich, was
ordered held without bail in an initial court appearance on Wednesday. The
suspect sat slumped over in a chair, showing bruises to their face and neck
apparently sustained during a violent apprehension by patrons at the club.
Prosecutors
have not yet filed formal charges. Defense attorneys have said the suspect is
nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.
Of 17
people injured by gunshots in the attack, 11 remained hospitalized late on
Wednesday, officials said. Those who were killed in the attack have been named
as Raymond Green Vance, 22; Ashley Paugh, 35; Daniel Aston, 28; Kelly Loving,
40; and Derrick Rump, 38.
Brink, who
lives in San Diego and is also known by his stage name, Dick Delaware, told the
station that his family was Mormon and he is a conservative Republican.
“We don’t
do gay,” he said in the interview, adding that though he held anti-gay views,
there was no excuse for shooting people in a club.
Aldrich
faces possible murder and hate crime charges.
“I’m so
sorry, guys, for your loss,” Brink said. “With no regard to politics, it’s
human life. I’m so sorry. My soul goes out to you.”
In a
subsequent interview, Brink said he did not know that Aldrich was non-binary.
“What does that mean? I got to know because I was horrified he was gay. I was
like, ‘Oh my God. He’s at a gay bar. He’s gay.’ I’m not homophobic or anything
- but to find something out like that – I just didn’t know”.
Brink, 48,
went on to explain that he had not raised his son: “As a child, he was taken
away – not by me,” he said, adding: “My ex-wife didn’t want my son around me. I
was an adult film star.”
After
seeing the violence Aldrich allegedly unleashed inside Q Nightclub four days
ago, Brink said he wished he had been more involved with his child, whose
grandparents petitioned a Texas court to change his name to erase “any
connections” to his birth father.
“I failed
him. I’m sorry, Nicholas or Anderson,” Brink later said. “I wish that he, you
know – if I gotta go fight somebody, I’m going in there with my fists. Fight
like a man, then shake hands afterward, and then you’re done. That’s it. You
don’t go out there. You don’t kill people.”
Brink’s
comments came amid questions about warning signs that may have been missed.
Last year, Aldrich was arrested after police said that he had threatened to
blow up his mother’s house in El Paso, Texas, where he had been living.
According
to a press release from the El Paso county sheriff, Aldrich had threatened his
mother with a “homemade bomb, multiple weapons and ammunition”. Aldrich was
charged with felony menacing and kidnapping concerning the bomb threat but the
charges were not pursued.
For reasons
still unclear, the incident failed to trigger Colorado’s “red flag” laws that
would have allowed authorities to seize Aldrich’s guns.
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