A gunman wearing body armor and armed with an AR-15-style rifle attacked an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs late Saturday night, killing five people and injuring at least 25. Two Club Q patrons managed to disarm the shooter, a 22-year-old suspect with ties to an extremist family before he was taken into police custody. The attack came on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, and police are investigating the attack as a potential hate crime. "This was an intentional act to push LGBTQ people back into the shadows," says Denver mayoral candidate Leslie Herod, who is the first LGBTQ+ African American to hold office in the Colorado General Assembly and considers Colorado Springs her hometown. Herod describes a "clear connection" between hateful anti-gay rhetoric and violence toward the LGBTQ community.

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