New York Woman Indicted for Threatening to Shoot Up LGBTQ+ Businesses in Colorado

By Aya Elamroussi and Jeremy Harlan

(CNN) — A grand jury in Colorado indicted a New York woman on felony charges for allegedly verbally threatening several businesses serving the LGBTQ community in the Denver area, including telling an establishment it would get “shot up like Club Q.”

Sharon Robinson, 40, is accused of calling at least four businesses located in Denver and Glendale, Colorado, just weeks after an assailant shot and killed five people in late November at Club Q, an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs.

While in New York, Robinson allegedly called the establishments and hurled anti-LGBTQ slurs and made various threatening comments in every call to the businesses, which cater to the LGBTQ community.

At one point, she told an employee in Denver, “You’re gonna be shot up like Club Q,” according to the indictment. Robinson is also accused of telling a Glendale business owner, “I’m going to go over there and shoot you all … You’re going to die,” the indictment states.

Robinson made an initial appearance Wednesday in New York federal court and was released on a $50,000 bond, court documents show. As a condition of her release, she consented to a court order requiring her to appear in federal court in Colorado, where the charges are pending.

Amanda L. David, an attorney appointed to represent Robinson at her appearance in New York, told CNN Thursday she had no comment on the case.

According to the indictment, the calls were made in early December, less than a month after the November 19 mass shooting at Club Q, as many were still grieving the loss of loved ones at the LGBTQ safe haven. In addition to the five killed, at least 22 were injured, most of them by gunfire.

Anderson Lee Aldrich was arrested and charged with more than 300 counts in the bloodshed after Aldrich was tackled by patrons and held down until police arrived.

Robinson’s indictment comes as the LGBTQ community in the United States faces hostility on multiple fronts – from anti-LGBTQ legislations that aim to curtail health care access for transgender people to the crack-down on drag performances in public spaces. Additionally, there has been a push to regulate curriculum in public schools, particularly conversations surrounding gender identity and sexuality.

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