Jim Daly, the President of Focus on the Family, released a statement in response to the graffiti to KRDO NewsChannel 13: "We recognize the community is hurting in the aftermath of the reckless and violent actions of a very disturbed individual. Join the millions of people who benefit from The Daily Signals fair, accurate, trustworthy reporting with direct access to: Dont have time to read the Washington Post or New York Times? The SPLC article, entitled Colorado Springs: Far-Right Influencers Made LGBTQ People Into Targets and written by Jason Wilson, excludes any reference to Focus on the Familys condemnation of the shooting, but does mention the organization itself as an example of Anti-LGBTQ Hate in Colorado., Wilsons article suggests that conservative and Christian rhetoric inspired the shooting. WebStop in today so we may find what can help you, and your family, fully serve Christs Kingdom. It comes as a shocked Colorado Springs grieves the loss of five people Raymond Green Vance, Kelly Loving, Daniel Aston, Derrick Rump and Ashley Paugh after a person armed with an AR-style rifle fired into Club Q just before midnight on 19 November. Club Q was more than a night out. Seals hugs Carter Rodriguez outside the All Souls Unitarian Church. The suspect had been to Club Q in 2021 and 2022 at least six times before the shooting, Joines said, and on Nov. 19 bought a ticket for a drag show there. After the shooting, Focus on the Family's president, Jim Daly, said that like the rest of the community he was mourning the tragedy. Adrian Vasquez, chief of the Colorado Springs Police Department, made an effort to use the right names and pronouns for the victims killed at Club Q. It is unclear if anyone has died as a result of the shooting or if there are more victims involved. Copyright 2023 KKTV. Daly noted a generational shift among Christian leaders away from the rhetorical style of his predecessor, Dr. James Dobson. "We urge everyone to pray for peace and we also pray for the individual or group responsible for this mischievous and unwarranted defacing of our ministry's property.". Jessy Smith Cruz embraces Jadzia Dax McClendon in Colorado Springs on Sunday. 2023 Cable News Network. For some, merely seeing police being careful to refer to the victims using their correct pronouns this week signaled a seismic change. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Phylisha Priester-Collins, her daughter and a friend were inside Club Q when gunfire interrupted their lives and changed their perspectives, forever. We urge everyone to pray for peace and we also pray for the individual or group responsible for this mischievous and unwarranted defacing of our ministrys property.. A sign on the property of the Colorado-based evangelical organisation Focus on the Family was vandalised with graffiti reading blood is on your hands and fives lives taken, an apparent reference to a mass shooting inside a Colorado Springs LGBT+ nightclub that left five dead and injured 18 others. Alex Clemons and his daughter Epifania pay their respects at a makeshift memorial near Club Q on Sunday. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much This is a time for prayer, grieving and healing, not vandalism and the spreading of hate. Before the vandalism, numerous news outlets and left-leaning personalities had cited Focus on the Familys conservative Christian stances on homosexual activity while reporting on the shooting. Introducing the victims as they lived was a way to represent them with compassion and dignity, Castro told CNN. The vandals added, Five lives taken.. Stephen Groves, Associated Press. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. When officials unfurled a 25-foot rainbow flag in front of Colorado Springs City Hall this week, people gathered to mourn the victims of a mass shooting at a popular LGBTQ club couldnt help but reflect on how such a display of support would have been unthinkable just days earlier. Wilson also suggests that some evangelical churches should lose their nonprofit status for electioneering in support of fundamentalist candidates in school board elections. He notes that the SPLCs hate map lists four anti-LGBTQ hate groups, including two headquartered in Colorado Springs: the Family Research Institute and the Pray in Jesus Name Project. All rights reserved. "We recognize the community is hurting in the aftermath of the reckless and violent actions of a very disturbed individual. Read the full story on the Denver Channels website. Sophia Diana, left, holds her friend Lex Chapman's hand during the vigil at the All Souls Unitarian Church. The SPLC used that radical Islamic terrorist attack to demonize conservative Christians. Thursday evening, the writing was covered with a trash-bag-like material, but it blew off in the wind. Copyright 2022 KKTV. Their blood is on your hands and five lives taken were spray-painted onto the sign following Saturday nights mass shooting in Colorado Springs at Club Q. Ron DeSantis championed and later signed a bill this year that earned the nickname Dont Say Gay, because it banned some public school teachers from discussing sexuality or gender identity with elementary school students. The Club Q shooting suspect identifies as nonbinary. Advocates say that when law enforcement or the media misgender a crime victim, it can add trauma and pain to a community that is already grieving. 5 hospitalized following a shooting on east, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Get to know all 17 Denver mayor candidates , 5 hospitalized following a shooting on east side of Colorado Springs Tuesday evening, Pueblo County deputies shoot, kill man after shots fired near elementary school, Aurora police ask for publics help in identifying suspects in Christmas Eve double homicide, Denver gang member gave 14-year-old permission to open fire on woman with AR-15 after fender-bender, DA alleges, Letters: Proposed age limit for gun ownership in Colorado doesnt make sense, Sheriff: Armed suspect in barricade incident in El Paso County is shot, hospitalized, Off-duty Denver police officer hits, kills man walking on road, Three Summit School District staffers and a former employee face failure to report child abuse investigation, Denver just got a direct flight to this Caribbean island known for music history and vegetarian cooking, Coloradans may have another chance to see the northern lights Monday night, Feds sue water company for rupture damaging Rocky Mountain National Park -- again, Price of gas in Colorado has risen 51% since Suncor's refinery shutdown in late December. The SPLC has long branded mainstream conservative and Christian organizations as hate groups, placing them on a list with the likes of the Ku Klux Klan. 1 killed in northeast Colorado Springs car crash, marking the 10th traffic fatality of 2023, Serious crash along Highway 24 on the west side of Colorado Springs Tuesday afternoon, WATCH - Colorado grocery and convenience stores to sell wine, Standoff near Pueblo County elementary school ends with suspect shot, Springs restaurant holding fundraiser for fallen Fountain police officer. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Group claiming responsibily for graffiti points to Focus on the Familys legacy of hateful theology, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile, Related video: Police identify Colorado Springs shooting victims by how they identified themselves. November 29, 2022, Vandals targeted Focus on the Family's Colorado Springs headquarters two days after the Southern Poverty Law Center mentioned the Christian organization in an article tying the Club Q shooting to "anti-LGBTQ hate." But since hes been here, he said, it has risen from recession-era struggles and become culturally and economically vibrant for all kinds of people. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Phylisha Priester-Collins, her daughter and a friend were inside Club Q when gunfire interrupted their lives and People hold a vigil at a makeshift memorial near the Club Q nightclub on November 20, 2022 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Focus on the Family is the target of graffiti referencing the Club Q shooting. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio of Florida. Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day. Americans are once again reeling in the face of unspeakable tragedy, after a mass shooting at a Colorado Springs gay bar left five dead and at least 25 injured. Not for the "stupid price" of $150 an acre foot. We do. Focus on the Family, an evangelical organization in Colorado Springs, was recently vandalized in response to the mass shooting at the LGBTQ nightclub. Referring to a trans person by a name they no longer use is often known as deadnaming. A man was sentenced in 2020 for the murder of one woman, but the other two deaths have not been solved. apprehended by club patrons Richard Fierro and Thomas James, comes from a conservative Republican family, Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion. Im a woman in a mans body is just one example of the effect of sin in our world. Police will often rely on legal names to identify victims or suspects. Colorado Springs is a community that is full of love. CLICK HERE for the GoFundMe Central Hub for donation information. These are the victims of the Colorado club shooting. This is a time for prayer, grieving and healing, not vandalism and the spreading of hate," Focus on the Family President Jim Daly told Newsweek in an emailed statement. My book Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center traces how the SPLCoriginally a public-interest legal nonprofit representing poor people in the Southbecame a juggernaut of political fundraising, in part by suing white supremacist organizations into bankruptcy and then using that work to exaggerate the threat of hate groups and to scare donors into ponying up cash. / We recognize the community is hurting in the aftermath of the reckless and violent actions of a very disturbed individual, said Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, in a Friday statement. Colorado Springs once had a reputation as an unwelcoming place for LGBTQ residents. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. She is now running to become Denvers mayor. In the 1990s, the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family advocated to amend the Colorado Springs Constitution to make it illegal to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. WebAt about 1:00 p.m. MST (20:00 UTC), more than thirty minutes after the 11:00 a.m. sermon had ended at New Life Church, Murray opened fire in the church parking lot with a In a Focus on the Family question-and-answer webpage, in response to the topic "struggling with same-sex attractions," the ministry said the word "gay" is an "artificial construct.". Priester-Collins is sharing her story only now as the suspected shooters preliminary trial begins because she says shes worried this community is forgetting them with such a focus on the suspected shooter. Willis Scott is an evening anchor for KRDO. This is a time for prayer, grieving and healing, not vandalism and the spreading of hate, Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, said in a statement shared with The Independent. However, these laws and policies allow dangerous individuals open admission to public accommodations. Try the Morning Bell and get the days most important news and commentary from a team committed to the truth in formats that respect your timeand your intelligence. We have to deal with this psychologically, physically. 2. Jessi Hazelward wipes a tear from her friend Amanda Grueschow's face during a vigil in Colorado Springs on Sunday. / In the 1990s it became known as a home base for evangelical nonprofits and Christian ministries including the broadcast ministry Focus on the Family and the Fellowship of Christian Cowboys. For years its marketed itself as an outdoorsy boomtown with a population set to top Denvers by 2050. Megan Ulu-Lani Boyanton joined The Denver Post in January 2022 as a business reporter, focusing her coverage on social inequities in business. With the city under the national spotlight, he said the organization wanted to make it clear it stands against hate. Incorrectly identifying a victim can slow down an investigation, confusing people who may have known them by the name they used in everyday life, the outlet reported. Though the initiative passed in 1992, in 1995 the Supreme Court found that it violated the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Its a place full of art shops and breweries; megachurches and military bases; a liberal arts college and the Air Force Academy. Union reps said the establishment of an unarmed response protocol will help with the Police Departments chronic understaffing and allow police to focus on The families of the five individuals killed inSaturday night's senseless attack are in our prayers. The Family Research Institutewhich reported only $50,000 in revenue in 2021appears not to have addressed the shooting. A mass shooting at a popular gay club in Colorado Springs has resurfaced questions about the citys past and future among its residents. There must be a willingness to learn about the full lives of those taken from us for the sake of respecting and honoring their lives.. Their blood is on your hands. PUBLISHED: February 22, 2023 at 9:05 a.m. | UPDATED: February 22, 2023 at 9:06 a.m. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. Five people were hospitalized She testified that she believes the suspect modeled the Club Q shooting after the shootings they posted on their neo-Nazi website. Subscribe to Here's the Deal, our politics newsletter. Did you encounter any technical issues? Focus on the Family is privileged to be one of many organizations in our city positioned to help and support the needs of struggling individuals and families, he Left: That includes adultery, biblical manhood, dating, marriage crisis, homosexuality, and sexual identity. Colorado Springs voted 3 to 1 in favor of Amendment 2, helping make its narrow statewide victory possible. Severe Weather Joshua Thurman, who was in the club at the time of the shooting, reacts on Sunday. WATCH: Why far-right groups are increasingly targeting the LGBTQ community. Many police departments lack training or specific policies for interacting with LGBTQ residents, according to a report on policing and LGBTQ people by the National LGBT HIV Criminal Justice Working Group, Lambda Legal and the National Center for Transgender Equality. The Daily Signal depends on the support of readers like you. If so, you will want to examine your faith convictions with great care and give them priority over every other consideration," the group continued on the page. The suspect was apprehended by club patrons Richard Fierro and Thomas James as well as an unnamed trans woman, and later arrested by police. 1996 - 2023 NewsHour Productions LLC. Focus on the Family spokesperson Katie Anderson confirmed the sign was vandalized, but wouldnt comment on when the incident occurred. Signs and flowers are placed at a memorial outside of Club Q in Colorado Springs. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics These [five] individuals gathered at Club Q with friends and loved ones, new and old, to be in community and to grieve all the lives lost to transphobia, the statement adds, calling the mass shooting an act of hate. Denver Broncos staff members and fans observe a moment of silence Sunday for the shooting victims. "Their blood is on your hands five lives taken," the message read. 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