Referencing the 2012 Aurora theater shooting, which was not designated as a hate crime, Aurora City Councilwoman Danielle Jurinsky on Wednesday spoke out against labeling the Club Q massacre a ‘hate crime,’ due to the apparent targeting of LGBTQ people, saying, “All Lives Matter.”
“Instead of cherry-picking, ‘This week, it’s these lives matter and we’re going to stand for this protected group, and next week, these lives matter,’ — you know, George, all lives matter,” said Jurinsky on KNUS’ George Brauchler Show Nov. 30. “And I condemn all hate. I’m telling you, every single human being’s life matters.”
In her radio interview, Jurinsky was explaining her objection to the wording of fellow council member Crystal Murrillo’s proposed resolution condemning the Club Q attack, saying she’d prefer the resolution not single out the LGBTQ community as targets of hate — but expand it to include others.
Murillo’s resolution eventually passed unanimously.
“You know, this notion that it’s such a big deal when it’s a protected class, when it’s this community or that community,” Jurinsky said. “But what about the movie theater shooting? Yeah, they didn’t get the status of being a hate crime. But George, as you know very well, that was so hate-filled. It’s disgusting. They all are. All of these shootings, all of these mass shootings. It’s just pure evil and so hate-filled.”
The hate crime designation stems from the belief that crimes motivated by a criminal’s hatred toward an identified population, such as toward the LGBTQ community for example, have a deeper effect and a broader impact on the community.
“Hate crimes physically wound and may effectively intimidate other members of the victim’s community, leaving them feeling terrorized, isolated, vulnerable, and unprotected by the law,” states the Southern Law Poverty Center (SPLC), which tracks hate crimes, on its website. “By making the victim’s community fearful, angry, and suspicious of other groups – and of the power structure that is supposed to protect them – these incidents can damage the fabric of our society and fragment communities.”
“The starting point for understanding hate crimes and their impact is to recognize that criminal activity motivated by bias is different from other criminal conduct,” states the SPLC. “First, these crimes occur because of the perpetrator’s bias or animus against the victim on the basis of actual or perceived status. The victim’s race, religion, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability is the reason for the crime. In the vast majority of these crimes, absent the victim’s personal characteristic, no crime would occur at all.”
“We’re going to run out of days.”
Jurinsky took issue with SPLC’s point in her KNUS interview and in a comment to the Colorado Times Recorder, saying she wants to expand the hate crime definition. She wrote “I never opposed calling the Club Q shooting a Hate crime, not ever. It absolutely is! I was simply making the point that hate is on the rise and we need to condemn all of it.”
“And you know, a synagogue is attacked, or a mosque is attacked,” said Jurinsky on air. “You know, the LGBT community is attacked. The black community, the Hispanic. It’s on and on. And George, how many resolutions are we going to bring forward? We only have 365 days in the year. Every four years, we get an extra day. There’s only so many proclamations, a day of remembrance, or a day of something for this community or that community. We’re going to run out of days.”
“What about the movie theater shooting?” asked Jurinsky. “Yeah, that didn’t get the status of being a hate crime.” She said the shooting at the King Soopers in Boulder was “hate-filled.”
“Hate is hate,” said Jurinsky.
Jurinsky was elected to the Aurora City Council in 2021 as part of a Republican slate, fulfilling a goal of Aurora’s GOP Mayor Mike Coffman to create a Republican majority on the Council. Her term ends in 2025.
UPDATE: This article was updated on Dec. 3 to reflect Jurinsky’s clarification, sent to the Colorado Times Recorder, that she doesn’t oppose labeling Club Q a hate crime, but she believes all similar crimes and other crimes should receive the hate-crime designation.
