CNN anchor Alysin Camarota was shocked Tuesday night to hear the suspect in the Colorado Springs mass shooting at a gay bar identifies as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. The news comes days after many within the mainstream media and progressive activists accused Republicans for the attack.
When Camarota read the new update about 22-year-old suspect Anderson Lee Aldrich, she said she didn't know how to react to that as it changes the prevailing narrative about who is responsible for the shooting.
"So, attorneys for the accused shooter, Anderson Lee Aldrich, say in new court filings tonight that the suspect now identifies as non-binary. In a footnote to a motion, asserting legal privileges, the public defenders say, quote, ‘Anderson Aldrich is non-binary. They use they/them pronouns and for the purposes of all formal filings will be addressed as 'Mx. Aldrich.' So in other words, not Mr. Or Ms.," Camarota said.
"You know, people have been looking into his background, and I don’t know if anybody here — are you guys lawyers? I mean, you know, I don’t know what to say about that. That’s what he’s now saying," she said to the show's panel.
CNN Political Commentator Errol Louis theorized it was Aldrich's legal team's tactic to defend against hate crime charges, though those are not as serious as the multiple murder charges Aldrich is facing.
"But it looks like they’re trying to build some kind of sympathy or at least confusion on the question of whether or not this was purely motivated by hate," he added.
"That is what it sounds like. We will wait to see," Camarota said in agreement.