The perpetrator of a shooting at an LGBT+ nightclub in the western United States was sentenced to life in prison on Monday after pleading guilty in a harrowing hearing.

• Also read: Colorado LGBTQ+ club kills murder suspect

• Also read: Colorado shooting: “I wondered what he was doing in a gay bar,” says the shooter’s father

• Also read: Suspect who shot at Colorado LGBTQ+ club identifies as non-binary

The perpetrator of a shooting at an LGBT+ nightclub in the western United States was sentenced to life in prison on Monday after pleading guilty in a harrowing hearing.

Armed with a pistol and an assault rifle, Anderson Lee Aldrich opened fire on November 19, 2022 at the Q Club in Colorado Springs shortly after a drag queens show, killing five and injuring 18.

The 23-year-old, who identified as non-binary according to his lawyers, was overpowered by two clients who threw him to the ground and disarmed him.

The judiciary had brought 305 charges against him, including murder and attempted murder.

Anderson Lee Aldrich, bearded and stout, appeared before a Colorado Springs judge Monday to plead guilty, avoiding a trial.

Relatives of his victims then testified to their pain. “I will never forgive you for your heinous crime,” said notably Sabrina Aston, whose son Daniel died at Q nightclub.

At the conclusion of that hearing, Judge Michael McHenry handed down a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“Like so many other people in our culture, you were looking for the power behind the trigger of a firearm,” the judge told ABC.

The conviction shows “that such an act cannot be tolerated and that the LGBTQ+ community is as much a part of the human family as you are,” he added.

Since the tragedy, details have surfaced about the killer’s chaotic life, whose parents were drug addicts and who endured an unstable childhood. But his motive is disputed: the prosecution mentioned homophobia, which the defense denies.

The bloodbath had reignited fears in America’s LGBT+ community six years after the worst killing in its history: On June 12, 2016, an Afghan-American killed 49 people at a gay club in Orlando, Florida.

He also reiterated the danger of guns in the United States, where there are more guns than people.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, more than 20,000 people have died since early 2023, including by suicide.

Gymnast and TikTok darling Olivia Dunne made quite a patriotic statement this weekend when she shared a video of herself announcing, “My pronouns are USA!” while enjoying a day at a Nascar race in Nashville .

The 20-year-old influencer took every opportunity to record content during Sunday’s Ally 400 event, sharing a slew of pictures and videos of herself taking in the sights and sounds of the event.

Going full on the Nashville theme, Olivia donned a crop top corset and tiny Daisy Duke shorts for the sporting event at the Nashville Superspeedway, which she paired with tan cowboy boots.

The blonde beauty appeared on Nascar’s Instagram feed and posed alongside racer Chase Elliott, 27, during the event.

She also took to TikTok to share a five-second video in which she lip-synched to an audio clip of someone standing between two men in military fatigues and declaring, “My pronouns are USA.”

Olivia Dunne, 20, performed at the Nascar Ally 400 race in Nashville on Sunday

The social media starlet dazzled in Daisy Dukes and a white corset top

Olivia appeared to have access behind the scenes during her visit to the Nashville Superspeedway

Other pictures showed her hanging out in the field with Chase and glancing inside his car.

The Louisiana State University student could also be seen cozying up with the race car ride behind the scenes near competitors’ trailers, as seen in one of his stories, shared again by Nascar.

Fans flocked to the comments on Nascar’s Instagram to gush over the social media starlet.

“I’ve never seen a happier chase,” someone quipped.

“Bro, live my dream,” chimed in another as Chase posed arm in arm with Olivia.

Although many other commentators speculated that Chase’s proximity to the gymnast before the race would alone be the motivation to win the Ally 400 Cup, his rival Ross Chastain ultimately took first place.

For his part, Chase finished fourth in the 400-mile race.

Earlier this week, Olivia shared several snaps of her cheering on the LSU baseball team at Charles Schwab Field Omaha Stadium in Nebraska.

Thanks to various sponsorship deals, the blonde beauty is one of the highest-paid female athletes in the NCAA

The bomb was also spotted in one of Chase’s stories shared again by Nascar

The Florida Gators are currently in a head-to-head with the LSU Tigers in the 2023 Men’s College World Series with the deciding game three taking place tonight.

During her performance at the baseball game, the TikTok star attracted a large crowd of admirers keen to get a glimpse of the gymnast – some fellow guests even asked for her autographs.

Video from the sporting event showed crowds of young men gathering around the area where Olivia was sitting – a scene reminiscent of the mob that swarmed the star and her fellow gymnasts at a competition in Utah in January.

At the time, Olivia made a personal request to her fans on Twitter, urging them to be “respectful” of their fellow gymnasts.

“I will always appreciate and love the support from you guys but when you come to a meeting I would like to ask you to be respectful to the other gymnasts and the gymnastics community as we are just doing our job,” she wrote.

In an interview with the Today show a few days later, Olivia — who is known online as Livvy — opened up about the security measures LSU had to take after the incident, while revealing it wasn’t the first time she’d found them himself to the fans in a “scary” situation.

“They gave us some new rules just to protect us: we are not allowed to go into the stands after the competitions and we have a new security person who travels with us,” explained Olivia.

The incident of the “rude” fans trying to “bully” Olivia at a meetup wasn’t the first time her coaches have raised concerns about her safety — the Today show revealed that LSU last year “because of a incident” went to the police. , but did not share any further details about what or who was involved.

Olivia has gone on to become one of the highest paid athletes on social media, earning a whopping seven figures a year thanks to her online fame

However, Olivia voiced her fears at the “threatening” comments she’s receiving on social media, explaining, “There are occasional people who come forward and that’s a bit worrying.”

Olivia also caused a stir last month with her debut in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue, which she shot in Puerto Rico.

The New Jersey native boasts 4.2 million Instagram followers in addition to her TikTok following of 7.5 million — making her one of the most influential collegiate athletes, according to social media metrics. ‘

She’s also one of the highest-paid NCAA athletes, thanks to various sponsorships, including American Eagle, Forever 21 and Vuori.

The gymnast’s performance has continued to rise recently, although she reportedly missed NCAA competition from March 31 until the end of the season due to an injury.

Speaking of her popularity, Olivia told Sports Illustrated, “There are always people who want to downplay your success and say it’s just your looks or just luck.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday called the organizers of a weekend revolt “traitors” who played into the hands of the Ukrainian government and its allies. The uprising by armed mercenaries, which lasted less than 24 hours, was the biggest threat to Putin’s authority so far.

Putin said the nation stood united and he commended the rank and file mercenaries for preventing the situation from escalating into “bloodshed”.

Earlier in the day, the leader of the rebellion, mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, defended his short-lived uprising. He mocked the Russian military but said he had not attempted a coup against Putin.

Putin did not name Prigozhin in his televised address, but said organizers of the mutiny tried to force the group’s soldiers to “shoot their own.” Putin blamed “Russia’s enemies” and said they “miscalculated”.

The Kremlin also showed Putin’s meetings with senior security, law enforcement and military officials, and earlier in the day authorities released a video showing Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whom Prigozhin had called for ouster, checking on troops in Ukraine.

Prigozhin said he was acting to prevent the destruction of his private military company, Wagner. “We started our march because of an injustice,” he said in an 11-minute statement, without giving details of where he was or what his plans were.

The feud between the leader of the Wagner Group and the Russian military elite smoldered throughout the war, erupting in a mutiny over the weekend when mercenaries left Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in the southern Russian city of Rostov. They rolled seemingly unopposed hundreds of kilometers towards Moscow before turning back less than 24 hours on Saturday.

The Kremlin said it reached an agreement that Prigozhin would move to Belarus along with his soldiers and receive amnesty. There was no confirmation of his whereabouts on Monday.

Prigozhin boasted Monday that his march was a “master class” on how the Russian military should have conducted the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He also ridiculed the military for failing to protect Russia and pointed to vulnerabilities that allowed Wagner to march 780 kilometers (500 miles) toward Moscow without encountering resistance.

His optimistic statement made no clearer what would ultimately happen to Prigozhin and his troops under the deal allegedly brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Prigozhin said Lukashenko “proposed to find solutions for the private military company Wagner to continue its work in a lawful jurisdiction.” This indicated that Prigozhin could keep his armed forces, although it was not immediately clear which jurisdiction he was referring to related

The independent Russian news agency “Vyorstka” claimed that construction of a military camp for up to 8,000 Wagner soldiers was underway in Belarus, but the report could not be independently verified. Belarusian military surveillance group Belarusski Hayun said on Telegram on Monday that it had not seen any activity in the area consistent with the report.

Although the mutiny was short-lived, it was not without bloodshed. Russian media reported that several military helicopters and a communications plane were shot down by Wagner troops, killing at least 15 people. Prigozhin expressed regret over the attack on the plane, but said they bombed his convoys.

Russian media reported that a criminal case against Prigozhin was ongoing, despite earlier Kremlin statements, and some Russian lawmakers were demanding his head.

Andrei Gurulev, a retired general and current lawmaker who clashed with the mercenary leader, said Prigozhin and his right-hand man Dmitri Utkin deserved “a bullet in the head.”

And Nikita Yurefev, a St. Petersburg City Council member, said he had filed an official request with Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office and the Federal Security Service (FSB), asking who would be punished for the rebellion, given that Putin made a promise on Saturday morning to address it , to punish those behind it.

It was unclear what resources Prigozhin has access to and how much of his considerable fortune he can access. Police raided his St. Petersburg office during the rebellion and found 4 billion rubles ($48 million) in trucks outside the building. This emerges from Russian media reports, which were confirmed by the Wagner boss. He said the money was intended to pay his soldiers’ families.

Russian media reported that Wagner offices in several Russian cities reopened on Monday and the company resumed recruiting new employees.

In a return to at least superficial normalcy, Moscow’s mayor on Saturday announced an end to the “anti-terror regime” imposed on the capital, as troops and armored vehicles set up checkpoints on the outskirts and authorities tore up roads leading into the city .

The Ministry of Defense released video of Shoigu in a helicopter and then meeting with officers at a military headquarters in Ukraine. It was unclear when the video was shot. This came as Russian media speculated that Shoigu and other military leaders had lost Putin’s trust and could be replaced.

For months prior to the uprising, Prigozhin had insulted Shoigu and Chief of General Staff General Valery Gerasimov with profanity, accusing them of not providing his troops with adequate ammunition in the battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, the longest and bloodiest war of the battle.

Prigozhin’s testimony seemed to confirm analysts’ view that the uprising was a desperate attempt to keep Wagner from being dismantled after all private military contractors ordered all private military contractors to sign Defense Ministry contracts by July 1.

Prigozhin said that most of his fighters refused to submit to the Defense Ministry’s command and that the force planned to hand over the military equipment it had deployed in Ukraine on June 30 after withdrawing from Ukraine and getting dressed in the southern Russian city of Rostov. He accused the MoD of attacking Wagner’s camp, prompting them to move earlier.

Russian political scientist Tatiana Stanovaya said on Twitter that Prigozhin’s mutiny was “not a quest for power or an attempt to overtake the Kremlin,” but a desperate move amid his escalating rift with the military leadership.

While Prigozhin could emerge from the crisis alive, Stanovaya said he has no political future in Russia under Putin.

It was unclear what the cracks created by the 24-hour rebellion would mean for the war in Ukraine, where Western officials say Russian troops’ morale is suffering from low morale. Wagner’s forces were key to Russia’s only land victory in months at Bakhmut.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Monday that Ukraine had “gained momentum” in its push around Bakhmut, making progress north and south of the city. Ukrainian forces said they had recaptured Rivnepil, a village in south-eastern Ukraine that had seen fierce fighting.

US President Joe Biden and leaders of several of Ukraine’s European allies discussed events in Russia over the weekend, but Western officials have been reluctant to publicly comment.

Biden said Monday that the US and NATO were not involved in the short-lived insurgency. Speaking at the White House, Biden explained that he was cautious about speaking publicly because he “didn’t want to give Putin an excuse to blame the West and NATO.”

“We made it clear that we were not involved and had nothing to do with it,” he said.

Biden said the US would coordinate with allies to monitor the situation and maintain support for Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg agreed on Monday that “the events of the weekend are an internal Russian matter”.

And Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said US Ambassador Lynne Tracy contacted Russian officials on Saturday to stress that the US was not involved in the mutiny.

The events show that the war is “shattering Russia’s political system,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“The monster that Putin created with Wagner, the monster is biting him now,” Borrell said. “The monster acts against its creator.”

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Associated Press writers Lorne Cook in Brussels and Jill Lawless in London contributed.

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine-war