Published Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs, Colorado, headquarters was vandalized on Thanksgiving with a message blaming the group for a recent mass shooting that killed five people and injured 18 others. A mass shooting at a popular gay club in Colorado Springs has resurfaced questions about the citys past and future among its residents. Jeremy, right, comforts his partner Anthony, one of the survivors wounded in the mass shooting at Club Q, at Centura Penrose Hospital in Colorado Springs on Tuesday. The shooting at Club Q occurred at a time when anti-LGBTQ sentiment continues to flare across the US. WebFocus on the Family - Visit Colorado Springs Home Focus on the Family 8605 Explorer Dr | Colorado Springs, CO | 80920 Main: (719) 531-3400 Map Website Overview Focus on the Family welcomes visitors to the ministry's Welcome Center in Colorado Springs. We provide help and resources for couples to build healthy marriages that AP writers Brittany Peterson and Jesse Bedayn in Colorado Springs contributed. Its a place full of art shops and breweries; megachurches and military bases; a liberal arts college and the Air Force Academy. Anderson Lee Aldrich in court documents, many on the Left blamed conservatives and Christians for the attack, and vandals targeted one prominent conservative Christian group in the city. Someone spray-painted the sign in front of the Stephen Groves, Associated Press. Vandals spray-painted the Focus on the Family building in the wee hours of Thanksgiving morning. For some, concealing ones name or gender identity may be a matter of personal safety or job security. Refusing to acknowledge someones humanity in death adds insult to injury, according to GLAAD, compounding the tragedy by invalidating the persons lived reality.. 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After the shooting, Focus on the Familys president, Jim Daly, said that like the rest of the community he was mourning the tragedy. The errors taught by transgender activists, and believed by many today, are likewise a result of sin and deception entering into the world. Advocates say that when law enforcement or the media misgender a crime victim, it can add trauma and pain to a community that is already grieving. The nonprofit organization has an evangelical focus. Many police departments lack training or specific policies for interacting with LGBTQ residents, according to a report on policing and LGBTQ people by the National LGBT HIV Criminal Justice Working Group, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Transgender Equality. 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? Campaign phone City council debates revolve around issues familiar throughout the Mountain West, such as water, housing and the threat of wildfires. appreciated. Opinion: Colorado farms going fallow? Focus on the Family President Jim Daly condemned the shooting on the day it occurred. 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. Not for the "stupid price" of $150 an acre foot. Over the summer, members of the extremist group Proud Boys interrupted a drag queen story hour, and other groups have since protested the events or forced them to be canceled. Politics here lean more conservative than in comparable-size cities. Severe Weather Colorado Springs native Ashlyn May, who grew up in a Christian church but left when it didnt accept her queer identity, said one woman from the group in the tent asked if she could pray for her and a friend who accompanied her to the memorial. 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. 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Five people were killed, and 25 others were injured, 19 of them by gunfire. David Zalubowski / AP. Denver Broncos staff members and fans observe a moment of silence Sunday for the shooting victims. The suspect was apprehended by club patrons Richard Fierro and Thomas James as well as an unnamed trans woman, and later arrested by police. Richard Fierro speaks during a news conference outside his Colorado Springs home on Monday, November 21. The message reads: "Their blood is on your hands. Focus on the Family is known for its public stance against same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ issues. The median age is 35. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Focus on the Family has nearly 700 employees who workSee this and similar jobs on LinkedIn. Left: CLICK HERE for the GoFundMe Central Hub for donation information. 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It comes as a shocked Colorado Springs grieves the loss of five people Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump and Ashley Paugh after a person armed with an AR-style rifle fired into Club Q just before midnight on 19 November. CNNs Alaa Elassar, Elizabeth Wolfe and Theresa Waldrop contributed to this report. Survivors and victims' family members were in court on Wednesday. People gather at a makeshift memorial near the Club Q nightclub on Monday. Stephanie Vigil was just elected to represent Colorado Springs in the state legislature. Focus on the Family, an evangelical organization in Colorado Springs, was recently vandalized in response to the mass shooting at the LGBTQ nightclub. More than half of US states this year introduced legislation that targeted LGBTQ residents, with a focus on transgender children and teens. Candidate name: Tom Strand. The suspect accused of killing five people in After the shooting, Joines said, she tried to interview the suspect at the hospital and they cried and asked if anybody was hurt. Ren Kurgis, left, and Jessie Pacheco leave flowers Sunday at the growing memorial in Colorado Springs. It may be short-term political gain, but with our community, it comes with real lived consequences.. Newsweek has reached out to the Colorado Springs Police Department for comment. Their blood is on your hands and five lives taken were spray-painted onto the signfollowing Saturday nights mass shooting in Colorado Springs at Club Q. Regardless of motive, I condemn the demonic violence ruling inside the heart of the shooter in the Colorado Springs nightclub, Klingenschmitt wrote on Facebook on Nov. 20. At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, The organization states on its website that it believes marriage is between a man and a woman, and in 2014 spoke out against adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to non-discrimination laws, citing concerns about conflicts with religious liberties. ", The article is written by Jeff Johnston. WATCH: Why far-right groups are increasingly targeting the LGBTQ community. 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 ministry's property.". These attacks should come as no surprise to those familiar with this leftist groups political tactics. Joshua Thurman, who was in the club at the time of the shooting, reacts on Sunday. 4 min read. 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ET: This article has been updated to include comment from Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family. But last weekends shooting has raised uneasy questions about the lasting legacy of cultural conflicts that caught fire decades ago and gave Colorado Springs a reputation as a cauldron of religion-infused conservatism, where LGBTQ people didnt fit in with the most vocal community leaders idea of family values. Much like in the 1990s, Focus on the Family and New Life Church remain prominent in town. 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. Discovery Company. 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. After the shooting, Focus on the Familys president, Jim Daly, said that like the rest of the community he was mourning the tragedy. Residents take pride in describing Colorado Springs as a place defined by reinvention. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/colorado-springs-reckons-with-past-after-club-q-shooting, Club Q owner says Colorado Springs shooting comes amid a new type of hate, Six killed when employee opens fire inside Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, Why far-right groups are increasingly targeting the LGBTQ community, Prosecutors pursue hate crime charges in Colorado LGBTQ nightclub shooting. 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. A statement from a group claiming responsibility for the vandalism, shared by a Twitter account called colorado peoples press, said we chose to proceed with this action because of the incredible violence that Focus on the Family continues to perpetuate against the LGBT+ community. Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, is accused of opening fire Saturday in Club Q, a popular LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. 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? Club Q mass shooting survivor speaks out on her recovery for the first time. Feb. 28A year after announcing grand plans for a new transit center, project consultants and Colorado Springs city staff The families of the five individuals killed inSaturday night's senseless attack are in our prayers. When the spray-painted message was shared on Twitter, several users supported the vandalism. Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton joined The Denver Post in January 2022 as a business reporter, focusing her coverage on social inequities in business. "Do you consider yourself a Christian? But many trans people dont use their legal names, even though many still use IDs that incorrectly list their name and gender. The suspect accused of killing five people in an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs ran a neo-Nazi website and used anti-gay slurs, a police detective testified on Wednesday. Not for the "stupid price" of $150 an acre foot. It feels interesting and strange, like theres this tension: How are we going to decide how we want to move forward as a community?, READ: Club Q owner says Colorado Springs shooting comes amid a new type of hate. Focus on the Family is privileged to be one of many organizations in our city positioned to help and support the needs of struggling individuals and families. A police officer lifts barricade tape as authorities respond to the scene of the mass shooting. 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 in the face of anti-LGBTQ discrimination and hostility, many Colorado Springs residents established LGBTQ funds and advocacy groups, Colorado Springs Indy columnist Brandon Flanery wrote in 2020. Now five are dead, at least 25 are injured, and an unknown number are traumatized for life by an act of violence primed by conspiracy thinking and hateful propaganda, Wilson concludes. "We'd encourage you not to allow yourself to get locked into that category. Law enforcement says a gunman Other local enforcement officials, including the El Paso County Sheriffs Office which has taken over custody of the suspect continued to refer to the suspect using he/him pronouns after the filing stating their gender identity. The SPLC also pointed the finger at conservative hate groupsand then-President Donald Trumpfor the 2016 shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, even though the shooter pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, the terrorist group also known as ISIS. At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, prosecutors for the first time provided evidence related to why they charged 22-year-old Anderson Aldrich with hate crimes as well as murder in the Nov. 19, 2022, shooting at Club Q. For others, the shocking act of violence in a space considered an LGBTQ refuge shattered a sense of optimism pervading everywhere from the citys revitalized downtown to the sprawling subdivisions on its outskirts. Immediately following the shooting, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly told 11 News sister station CBS Denver that he mourned the tragedy and that the organization wanted to make it clear it stands against hate. 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.". Law enforcement agencies have not revealed Anderson Lee Aldrichs alleged motive, but the clubs owners and LGBT+ advocates have condemned a surge of inflammatory anti-gay and anti-trans rhetoric and politicised harassment from right-wing and religious figures and Republican officials in the weeks and months that preceded the attack. , November 21 Family is known for its public stance against same-sex marriage and other issues. Is written by Jeff Johnston far-right groups are increasingly targeting the LGBTQ community issues familiar throughout the Mountain,. 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