Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Get to know all 17 Denver mayor candidates , Focus on the Familys Colorado Springs headquarters sign vandalized days after Club Q mass shooting. In 2019, Brandon Ragan, one of the departments LGBTQ liaisons, told WMFE, Orlandos public radio station, that the department had made mistakes in its investigation into Gardens death and would learn from them going forward. But many trans people dont use their legal names, even though many still use IDs that incorrectly list their name and gender. "Not bad enough," another tweeted about the vandalism. The Orange County Sheriffs Department had previously responded to the 2016 mass shooting at Pulse, a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, where 49 people were killed. Photo by Isaiah J. Downing/Reuters. CNN has reached out to the sheriffs office for comment.). A sign on the property of the Colorado-based evangelical organisation Focus on the Family was vandalised with graffiti reading blood is on your hands and fives lives taken, an apparent reference to a mass shooting inside a Colorado Springs LGBT+ nightclub that left five dead and injured 18 others. Will that affect potential hate crime charges? Their blood is on your hands and five lives taken were spray-painted onto the sign following Saturday nights mass shooting in Colorado Springs at Club Q. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family. The Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family is a $100 million-a-year-operation dedicated to family and moral values. Focus on the Family President Jim Daly condemned the shooting on the day it occurred. More than one-third of residents are nonwhite twice as many as in 1980. All Rights Reserved. 1 killed in northeast Colorado Springs car crash, marking the 10th traffic fatality of 2023, Serious crash along Highway 24 on the west side of Colorado Springs Tuesday afternoon, WATCH - Colorado grocery and convenience stores to sell wine, Standoff near Pueblo County elementary school ends with suspect shot, Springs restaurant holding fundraiser for fallen Fountain police officer. The retired Army major was one of the men who. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. When officials unfurled a 25-foot rainbow flag in front of Colorado Springs City Hall this week, people gathered to mourn the victims of a mass shooting at a popular LGBTQ club couldnt help but reflect on how such a display of support would have been unthinkable just days earlier. Woman shot near CU Boulder overnight, suspect is at large, This is unprecedented": Avian flu has killed 12,000 birds in Colorado, Skygazers will have a great view Wednesday of two planets that look like they are almost touching, Letters: Proposed age limit for gun ownership in Colorado doesn't make sense, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot concedes defeat, Southern California home sales fall to all-time low, NYC Mayor Adams dismisses need to separate church and state, declares himself a servant of God, Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. We urge everyone to pray for peace and we also pray for the individual or group responsible for this mischievous and unwarranted defacing of our ministrys property., A Twitter account called colorado peoples press, which has thousands of followers, on Thanksgiving evening posted photos of the graffiti and a letter signed by members of the Front Range queer community., Focus on the family vandalized in response to the club q murders in Colorado Springs THEIR BLOOD IS ON YOUR HANDSFIVE LIVES TAKEN, A press release and report back from those who completed this direct action: pic.twitter.com/LszpJrTmzX, colorado peoples press (@colpeoplespress) November 25, 2022, Before proceeding we feel it is our responsibility to acknowledge that we acted without consent from the families of these people, the anonymous letter stated. Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. In his first court appearance by video Wednesday, suspect Anderson Lee Aldritch still wore many of the cuts and bruises police say he received when Richard Fierro and Thomas James stopped him that night. She said she found community at Club Q when she would come back from college, but that sense of belonging didnt allow her to forget that people and groups with a history of anti-LGBTQ stances and rhetoric maintained influence in city politics. The Colorado Springs Police Department couldnt be reached for comment on Friday. WATCH: Why far-right groups are increasingly targeting the LGBTQ community. Its headquarters have been in Colorado Springs since 1991. His biography for Focus on the Family says he's an Issues Analyst who "regularly shares his story of struggling as a Christian with same-sex attractions and how God brought healing and change to his life.". We recognize the community is hurting in the aftermath of the reckless and violent actions of a very disturbed individual. Woman shot near CU Boulder overnight, suspect is at large, This is unprecedented": Avian flu has killed 12,000 birds in Colorado, Skygazers will have a great view Wednesday of two planets that look like they are almost touching, Letters: Proposed age limit for gun ownership in Colorado doesn't make sense, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot concedes defeat, Southern California home sales fall to all-time low, NYC Mayor Adams dismisses need to separate church and state, declares himself a servant of God, Zero-calorie sweetener linked to heart attack and stroke, study finds, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Willis Scott is an evening anchor for KRDO. Colorado Springs shooting victims The Colorado Springs Police Department identified the five people killed at Club Q as: Raymond Green Vance (he/him) After the shooting, Focus on the Familys president, Jim Daly, said that like the rest of the community he was mourning the tragedy. Incorrectly identifying a victim can slow down an investigation, confusing people who may have known them by the name they used in everyday life, the outlet reported. However, these laws and policies allow dangerous individuals open admission to public accommodations. With the city under the national spotlight, he said the organization wanted to make it clear it stands against hate. Copyright 2022 KKTV. Herod and others who have been around long enough are remembering this week how in the 1990s, at the height of the religious rights influence, the Colorado Springs-based group Colorado for Family Values spearheaded a statewide push to pass Amendment 2 and make it illegal for communities to pass ordinances protecting LGBTQ people from discrimination. WebColorado Springs nightclub shooting. "[Gay is] a word that means what other people say it meansnothing more, nothing less," the webpage said. "Today, they should be thankful we don't repay blood with blood," another tweeted. Newsweek has reached out to the Colorado Springs Police Department for comment. When you pump that demoralizing rhetoric into the atmosphere, when you supercharge the political environment to make it as hostile as possible toward LGBTQ people, someone has to pay the price, he told CNNs Jim Acosta on Sunday. Club Q was more than a night out. Much like in the 1990s, Focus on the Family and New Life Church remain prominent in town. The suspect was apprehended by club patrons Richard Fierro and Thomas James as well as an unnamed trans woman, and later arrested by police. Evidence markers are placed where a victim was found near Club Q. Paige H., Tyler Johnston, Keenan Mestas-Holmes and Altas Pretzeus embrace while paying their respects at a memorial in Colorado Springs on Sunday. But even departments in cities with sizable LGBTQ populations, such as the Orange County Sheriffs Department in central Florida, can be careless in their interactions with LGBTQ victims and witnesses: In 2018, when investigating the death of Sasha Garden, a Black trans woman, the sheriffs office misgendered her and used descriptions that LGBTQ advocates said were damaging, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Joshua Thurman, who was in the club at the time of the shooting, reacts on Sunday. In the 1990s, the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family advocated to amend the Colorado Springs Constitution to make it illegal to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. @Tyler2ONeil To sound off, please emailletters@DailySignal.comand well consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular We Hear You feature. There has been a concerted push to shed the citys reputation as Jesus Springs and remake it yet again, highlighting its elite Olympic Training Center and branding itself as Olympic City USA. Police did not announce the Club Q shooting suspects motive, but they face five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of a bias-motivated crime causing bodily injury, court records show. It is unclear if anyone has died as a result of the shooting or if there are more victims involved. Ren Kurgis, left, and Jessie Pacheco leave flowers Sunday at the growing memorial in Colorado Springs. They merely follow the Bibles teaching on homosexual activity and gender, along with Jesus instructions to preach the Gospel and build up the church. Colorado Springs, a city of about 480,000 located 70 miles south of Denver, is home to the U.S. Air Force Academy, as well as Focus on the Family, a prominent evangelical Christian ministry. Try the Morning Bell and get the days most important news and commentary from a team committed to the truth in formats that respect your timeand your intelligence. This is a time for prayer, grieving and healing, not vandalism and the spreading of hate, Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, said in a statement shared with The Independent. Join the millions of people who benefit from The Daily Signals fair, accurate, trustworthy reporting with direct access to: Dont have time to read the Washington Post or New York Times? Focus on the Family is an evangelical organization founded in California in 1977. Priester-Collins still has a long road to a full recovery but says if something positive came out of this horrible event it is that she is closer with her family than ever before. Campaign phone After the shooting, Joines said, she tried to interview the suspect at the hospital and they cried and asked if anybody was hurt. The Colorado Springs Police Department identified the five people killed at Club Q as. PUBLISHED: February 22, 2023 at 9:05 a.m. | UPDATED: February 22, 2023 at 9:06 a.m. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Five people were hospitalized Days after the mass shooting, someone left a spray-painted message on a Focus on the Family sign. Now hes grieving the loss of Rump and Aston, both of whom were slain in the club shooting. The hearing is scheduled to continue through Friday, when a judge will rule if there is enough evidence to take the case which includes more than 300 charges to trial. In the 1990s, Colorado Springss Focus on the Family led the fundamentalist charge in support of Amendment 2, a Colorado ballot measure that banned municipalities from including LGBTQ people in their anti-discrimination policies. It goes on to claim, "Transgender-identified and gender dysphoric individuals are not necessarily more dangerous than anyone else. Misgendering a trans victim of crime can also thwart the delivery of justice. Whereas Focus on the Family published literature in decades past assailing what it called the Homosexual Agenda, its messaging now emphasizes tolerance, ensuring those who believe marriage should be between one man and one woman have the right to act accordingly. On November 1920, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. Campaign phone number: 719-210-1607. The organization's website has numerous "resources" for sexuality. Please check your inbox to confirm. Refusing to acknowledge someones humanity in death adds insult to injury, according to GLAAD, compounding the tragedy by invalidating the persons lived reality.. People pay their respects at a memorial display set up to remember the five victims of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on Tuesday, November 22. 2. Sam Metz, Associated Press He said the horrific event exposes the evil and wickedness inside the Its a place full of art shops and breweries; megachurches and military bases; a liberal arts college and the Air Force Academy. Hours & Location Hours: Mon Fri : 9am 5:30pm Sat: 9am 5pm Closed Sunday Address: 8685 Explorer Drive Colorado Springs, CO 80920-1051 Phone: (719)-531-3464 E-mail: Bookstore.Associate@fotf.org Available Products Adventures in Published Residents take pride in describing Colorado Springs as a place defined by reinvention. WebPosted 6:25:16 PM. Colorado Springs once had a reputation as an unwelcoming place for LGBTQ residents. (Icons, a downtown bar with singing staff, opened a year later in 2021.). 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. Police told 11 News partner The Gazette that the statement was spray-painted at some point during the wee hours of Thursday morning. We must condemn in the strongest terms possible the taking of innocent life., After the vandalism, Daly said the shootings aftermath should be a time of prayer, grieving and healing, not vandalism and the spreading of hate., The families of the five individuals killed in Saturday nights senseless attack are in our prayers, Daly added in a public statement. The suspect had been to Club Q in 2021 and 2022 at least six times before the shooting, Joines said, and on Nov. 19 bought a ticket for a drag show there. A suspect, who was reportedly tackled by club patrons before police arrived, remains jailed without bond. Focus on the Family, an evangelical organization in Colorado Springs, was recently vandalized in response to the mass shooting at the LGBTQ nightclub. 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