One little detail is missing from this self-congratulatory press release: The shooter himself was “a member of the LGBTQRSWTF community”

Gays everywhere can rest easy and be at peace because the ATF, FBI and DOJ, all of whom are displaying their rainbow cloaks of wokeness here, have their back. “We will not rest”

… “Fueled by hate, the defendant targeted members of the LGBTQIA+ community at a place that represented belonging, safety, and acceptance – stealing five people from their loved ones, injuring 19 others, and striking fear across the country,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Today’s sentencing makes clear that the Justice Department is committed to protecting the right of every person in this country to live free from the fear that they will be targeted by hate-fueled violence or discrimination based on who they are or who they love. I am grateful to every agent, prosecutor, and staff member across the Department – from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, to the Civil Rights Division, the ATF, and FBI – for their work on this case. The Justice Department will never stop working to defend the safety and civil rights of all people in our country.”

“The 2022 mass shooting at Club Q is one of the most violent crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community in history,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI and our partners have worked tirelessly towards this sentencing, but the true heroes are the patrons of the Club who selflessly acted to subdue the defendant. This Pride Month and every month, the FBI stands with the survivors, victims, and families of homophobic violence and hate.”

“ATF will not rest until perpetrators like this defendant are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Director Steven Dettelbach of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). “I hope today’s life sentence brings at least some peace to the victims and survivors of this senseless, horrific tragedy. That this sentence should come during Pride month reinforces how far we have left to go before all communities, including all LGBTQIA+ communities, are safe here. It also shows how far ATF and all our partners will go to ensure hatred does not win.”

“The defendant’s mass shooting and heinous targeting of Club Q is one of the most devastating assaults on the LGBTQIA+ community in our nation’s history. This sentence cannot reclaim the lives lost or undo the harms inflicted. But we hope that it provides the survivors, the victims’ families, and their communities a small measure of justice,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Our message today should be loud and clear. No one should have to fear for their life or their safety because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. The Justice Department will vigorously investigate and prosecute those who perpetrate hate-fueled, bias-driven attacks.”

So what’s the problem? The shooter “identifies” as non-binary/gay, as even NBC once admitted (and referred to him as “they/their” in its coverage) back in November 2022. That aspect, rarely mentioned in media coverage of the massacre at the time, has now long since been buried.

Buried, but exhumed by The Maine Wire yesterday:

LGBT Mass Shooter Pleads Guilty to Hate Crimes Against LGBT People

Anderson Aldrich, who identifies as “non-binary,” pled guilty on Tuesday to 74 additional charges related to hate crimes and firearms. Aldrich is already serving a life sentence of a thousand years without the possibility of parole for a mass shooting at a gay bar in Colorado.

“Fueled by hate, the defendant targeted members of the LGBTQIA+ community at a place that represented belonging, safety, and acceptance – stealing five people from their loved ones, injuring 19 others, and striking fear across the country,” said U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, following the new sentencing.

In 2022, Aldrich murdered five people, and attempted to murder numerous others, at the Club Q.

Following the incident, headlines and prosecutors suggested that the crime was motivated by hatred of LGBT people.

It was later revealed, however, that Aldrich himself is a member of the LGBT community, and identifies as non-binary.

That revelation did not stop AG Garland from charging him with additional hate crime charges, to which Aldrich pled guilty.

The new charges will carry with them an additional 55 life sentences, although the additional conviction is merely symbolic, since Aldrich is already serving a lengthy sentence, which he has no chance of outliving.