Anderson Lee Aldrich (20 May 2000-), born Nicholas Franklin Brink, was an American neo-Nazi terrorist who, on 19-20 November 2022, killed 5 people and injured 25 in an anti-LGBT terrorist attack at the Club Q gay bar in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Biography
Nicholas Brink was born in San Diego, California in 2000, the son of pornographic actor Aaron Brink nad the maternal grandson of far-right Republican politician Randy Voepel. Brink changed his name to "Anderson Lee Aldrich" in 2016, and he was raised in San Antonio, Texas, affiliating with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He experienced bullying in high school and became radicalized on the internet, operating a neo-Nazi website and advocating the killing of civilians for the purpose of "social cleansing." In June 2021, Aldrich was arrested for holding his grandparents hostage after they planned to move to Florida, and he was arrested by SWAT after an hour-long standoff, after which handguns, ballistic vests, gas masks, and explosive materials were confiscated. The case against Aldrich was dismissed in July 2022.
Aldrich proceeded to plan a terrorist attack targeting LGBT people, using rainbow-colored shooting targets to prepare. At 11:56 PM on 19 November 2022, Aldrich entered the Club Q gay club in Colorado Springs while wielding an AR-15 rifle and body armor, and began open firing at employees and patrons on the eve of the Transgender Day of Rememrance. He was subdued by a US Army veteran and two other patrons, and a trans woman used her heels to stomp on the shooter, disabling him. He was promptly arrested, and, during his trial, Aldrich claimed to be non-binary; however, experts in online extremism kept in mind that his crimes and his past meant that his "identification" was meant to troll the gay community.