The father of the gunman who went on a killing spree in a nightclub last week has been met with criticism from netizens for his bizarre response to the incident.
Twenty-two-year-old Anderson Lee Aldrich has been named as the suspect in the shooting that killed five people and injured at least 17 others in Colorado Springs' LGBT nightclub, Club Q.
Aldrich - whose attorneys say identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns - opened fire in the club using a large rifle on Saturday (November 19).
At a police conference on Monday (November 21), officials identified the victims as Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump, Kelly Loving, Ashley Paugh, and Raymond Vance. Family members have since confirmed that both Aston and Rump were bartenders at Club Q, per BBC News.
A local brewery owner and former military veteran made headlines after it was revealed that he apprehended Aldrich and tackled them to the ground with the help of a fellow clubgoer who stomped on them with her heels.
"I just ran over there. Got him. I'm thinking, 'I gotta kill this guy. He's gonna kill my kid. He's gonna kill my wife,'" the Iraq and Afghanistan veteran said via BBC News.
Now, it seems Aldrich's father's response to their murderous spree has caught the attention of the internet.
Aaron Franklin Brink - a devout Mormon who previously worked in adult entertainment under the name Dick Delaware - told reporters that, upon hearing of Aldrich's involvement in the shooting, he wondered whether they were "gay." Adding that he was a "Mormon" and "conservative Republican," he stated that he eventually felt relieved when he found out Aldrich wasn't gay.
A short clip of Brink talking to a local news outlet was subsequently posted on Twitter, where it has been viewed almost 12 million times.
"They started telling me about the incident, a shooting involving multiple people," he says in the clip.
"And then I go on to find out it's a gay bar. I said, 'God, is he gay?' I got scared, 'Sh**, is he gay?' And he's not gay, so I said, 'Phhhewww' [...] You know Mormons don't do gay. We don't do gay. There's no gays in the Mormon church. We don't do gay," he adds.
Brink, 48, has previously been open about his past in the porn industry as well as his addiction to methamphetamine. According to The Daily Mail, he currently works as a mixed martial artist, and has a history competing in the UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting.
Speaking to CBS 8, Brink revealed he taught Aldrich how to fight at a young age, saying: "I praised him for violent behavior really early. I told him it works. It is instant and you'll get immediate results."
Since his public commentary, the Mormon church has confirmed that Brink is a member of the community but that he has not been an active member for quite some time, per The Daily Beast.
Twitter users have voiced their disgust at Brink's comments, with one user writing that his words were "sickening," commenting: "The Club Q shooter's dad said he 'praised him for violent behavior really early. I told him it works. It is instant and you'll get immediate results.' This interview is... sickening."
"He murdered five people, but at least he’s not gay. [Jesus f****ing Christ]. This man is fueled by meth and hatred," another person wrote...
...to which someone else replied: "Please leave meth out of this lol, I was addicted to meth for 7 years, I did some things I regret, but I never became a republican."
A current police investigation will attempt to determine whether the shooting was a hate crime, and whether Aldrich acted alone.
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