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Mother of Club Q Suspect Charged With Disorderly Conduct

Laura Voepel
Image via Facebook

Police detained Laura Voepel, 45, just hours after the Club Q attack.

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The mother of the accused Club Q shooter was detained by police the day after the attack, according to court records released Monday.

Laura Voepel, 45, was detained about 3:30 a.m. November 20 at a Colorado Springs apartment complex, The Denver Post reports. She was charged with resisting arrest, which is a misdemeanor, and disorderly conduct, a petty offense. Police said she was yelling and refused to stop, and she then "became combative."

"Subject continued to make unreasonable noise directly next to multiple apartments," says a police record quoted by TV station KUSA. "While I attempted to place subject into custody, she became combative by physically resisting officers control by force."

Voepel is the mother of Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, who is accused of killing five people and causing injury to more than 20 others at the LGBTQ+ nightclub in Colorado Springs shortly before midnight November 19. Police have recently raised the count of the injured to 22. Voepel had posted on Facebook that night that she couldn't locate Aldrich, with whom she had plans, The Independent reports.

She is the daughter of California Assemblyman Randy Voepel, a Republican who is at the end of his term after losing his latest reelection bid. Voepel has been a major supporter of Donald Trump and once likened the U.S. Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021, to the American Revolution. He later condemned the violence of the insurrection.

Laura Voepel's ex-husband, Aaron Brink, is a former adult film star and mixed martial arts fighter who wondered why Aldrich was at an LGBTQ+ club and expressed relief upon hearing that Aldrich isn't gay. Aldrich, who is nonbinary, changed their name a few years ago to establish distance from Brink.

Laura Voepel was not jailed and is scheduled to appear in court January 25. She has a record of various criminal charges, including an arson charge that was reduced to criminal mischief, to which she pleaded no contest in 2013. She also has a history of mental health challenges.

In 1999, Brink pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic battery charge, and court records show Voepel was the victim, according to CNN. Brink received a suspended sentence.

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Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.
Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.