“I was protecting my family.” These are the words of retired army major Richard Fierro, the man who was able to tackle and subdue the shooter of the recent Club Q shooting. In a moving interview with CNN, he described the events of November 19th: a man dressed in an army vest wielding an AR-15 rifle stepped through the door and opened fire. When this danger registered with Fierro he immediately rose, his army instincts kicking in, and tackled the gunman to the floor. He and another young man beat the shooter severely before stripping him of his arms.
Club Q is a nightclub within Colorado Springs. It has long been a safehaven for its LGBTQ+ patrons, and a vibrant hub of culture. Early Saturday evening was a normal night for the club, with the usual scenes of drag and celebration taking place. However, by the end of the night, it had become the scene of a massacre. Recent police reports confirm that five people have passed away due to the shooting, and that as many as 25 others have been injured.
This pattern of mass murder through the use of AR-15 rifles is most utterly disturbing, and yet it is one that we have grown accustomed to. It is insane that we, as Americans, see headlines about mass shootings almost every day, and that many of us have seemingly accepted this. The true issue at hand is gun violence, and its correlation with the rise of homophobic hate crimes. I would urge you to stay aware and informed, and to be cautious of the growing rate of hate crimes within the United States. Every day, real people are dying.
Today five families are grieving. These are the names of those that we have lost: Raymond Green Vance, Ashley Paugh, Derrick Rump, Daniel Ashton, and Kelly Loving.
