Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

In my day, never was longer.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

The “burn-it-down” people are good with that until they become part of the kindling.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

You are here: Home / Civil Rights / LGBTQ Rights / LGBTQ Rights Are Human Rights / A Hero Emerges

A Hero Emerges

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A New York Times reporter spoke with one of the people who took down the Colorado Springs shooter before he could kill even more people. The hero’s name is Richard M. Fierro, a local brewer, and if the story is accurate (others have corroborated it), he deserves a medal. An excerpt:

COLORADO SPRINGS — Richard M. Fierro said he was at a table in Club Q with his wife, daughter and friends on Saturday, watching a drag show, when the sudden flash of gunfire ripped across the nightclub. His instincts from four combat deployments as an Army officer in Iraq and Afghanistan instantly kicked in. Fight back, he told himself…

When the shooting started, Mr. Fierro said, he hit the floor, pulling a friend down with him. As bullets sprayed, he saw the gunman move through the bar toward a door leading to a patio where dozens of bar patrons had fled. Mr. Fierro, who served in the Army for 15 years, said he raced across the room, grabbed the gunman by a handle on the back of his body armor, pulled him to the floor and jumped on top of him.

“Was he shooting at the time? Was he about to shoot? I don’t know,” ” Mr. Fierro said. “I just knew I had to take him down.”

The gunman, who Mr. Fierro estimated weighed more than 300 pounds, sprawled onto the floor, his military-style rifle landing just out of reach. Mr. Fierro started to go for the rifle, but then saw that the gunman had a pistol as well.

“I grabbed the gun out of his hand and just started hitting him in the head, over and over,” Mr. Fierro said.

As the fight continued, he said, he yelled for other club patrons to help him. A man grabbed the rifle and moved it away to safety. A drag dancer stomped on the gunman with her high heels. The whole time, Mr. Fierro said, he kept pummeling the shooter’s head while the two men screamed obscenities at each other.

When police arrived a few minutes later, the gunman was no longer struggling, Mr. Fierro said, and he feared that he had killed him. The suspect in the shooting was taken into custody and remained hospitalized on Monday afternoon.

The cops mistook Fierro for a perpetrator since he was covered in the suspect’s blood when they arrived. They tackled and cuffed Fierro and locked him in a police car for an hour while he begged them to let him go check on his family. The article says his wife and daughter are recovering from injuries at the home where reporters interviewed Fierro.

Other reports say the suspect, who is still hospitalized, hasn’t spoken with authorities yet. Hopefully that’s because his face is smashed in from the pistol-whipping. I know that’s a gross and violent thought, but fuck that motherfucker, fuck his MAGA chump grandpa and fuck every GOP politician who is whipping up hate and fear against the LGBTQ community. They should all rot in hell.

Open thread!

PS: A medal for the drag dancer who stomped on that motherfucker too.

Reader Interactions

98Comments

  1. 1.

    gwangung

    I repeat the call that there should be a fund so that this guy and his family will never have to pay a tab in a gay establishment again

    ETA: Seconded on the medal for the dancer.

  2. 2.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    At some point, one of these choads is going to become a puddle of shit and blood on the floor by being beaten to death by his enraged surviving victims.

    There may or may not be a national conversation about it then, assuming that the media gives wide coverage to the puddle on the floor.

  3. 3.

    pluky

    One of the first things I was taught as a newly out gayling was DO NOT mess with drag queens. They will hurt you!

  4. 4.

    lollipopguild

    An unarmed citizen takes down a shooter but all of the heavily armed cops at Uvalde could not go in to a school and save some kids lives.

  5. 5.

    E.

    The attacks will surely end once one of these dipshits humiliates himself by getting beaten to death by a drag queen. Which I am guessing will be pretty soon.

  6. 6.

    Cacti

    I’ve enjoyed telling right wingers that Colorado drag queens are tougher and braver than Texas cops.

  7. 7.

    jonas

    Other reports say the suspect, who is still hospitalized, hasn’t spoken with authorities yet

    He’s been charged with a hate crime, in addition to the murders, of course, so they must have found some pretty clear evidence, either from stuff seized from his home or something he said to the cops or on social media, about his intentions. Guy sounds like a real piece of work.

  9. 9.

    gwangung

    He took his daughter to a drag show?  That can get him in big trouble in Florida.

    Given the results of his heroism, all I can say is… Let. Them. Try.

  11. 11.

    Jess

    A drag dancer stomped on the gunman with her high heels.

     

    As soon as I heard about the people taking him down, I thought “I bet at least one was a drag queen!” Those ladies are FIERCE! I’ll be first in line to buy her new shoes if she needs them…

  12. 12.

    cain

    @Old School: Can’t wait for some errant question to DeSantis in regards to this shooting. Considering he’s poised to actually outlaw these clubs – let him try. Combined with all the shit happening in SCOTUS – I think we’ve woken up the electorate that things are grim as people are losing rights.

  13. 13.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    @cain: I think we’ve woken up the electorate that things are grim as people are losing rights.

    And losing lives in the cases where right wing nut jobs decide our rights aren’t being stripped away fast enough.

    When I go out, I don’t want to have to worry about anything more serious than social anxiety.

  14. 14.

    Wag

    To hell with the shooter.

    To hell with the NRA.

    To hell with DeSantis, Trump, Boebert, Green, and their fascist enablers..

    To hell with the entire GQP.

  15. 15.

    Tony G

    @lollipopguild: And, of course, the local Colorado cops let this piece of garbage go free after a bomb threat and an armed standoff, and later let him obtain a powerful firearm.  If cops demand “respect for their authority” then maybe they should DO THEIR DAMN JOBS for a change.

  16. 16.

    JoyceH

    If the right wing is trying to marginalize and ‘otherize’ the LGBT community and make them unacceptable to the majority, it’s not working. Here I am, an old, straight, white lady, sitting in my rural home in middle-of-nowhere, wondering where I could go to see a drag show.

  18. 18.

    Mo MacArbie

    The shooter’s body armor had a handle on the back? That seems like a bad design.

    And if the hero is a brewer, I’m guessing that he doesn’t need free drinks. Keg sales would probably be appreciated for any establishments wanting to help him that way.

  19. 19.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    @JoyceH: There’s a Google query for that.

    Youtube might be a good resource. I haven’t started it yet, but I heard Pose is a good show about drag performers.

    I’m pretty sure there are sub-genres of drag show also. A man I “dated” a few years back got me hip to these all-black drag reviews with stunning performers but a whole different vibe from other drag performances I have seen.

  20. 20.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @pluky: It’s the 11th Command: Thou shalt not fuck with drag queens.

    I once saw a queen duke it out with a customer who started shit with her during her performance. From the bar top. Never even missed a word of her lip sync.

    #SquadGoals

    @gwangung: Trust me, the guy who took down the shooter will never have pay for drinks in a gay bar for the rest of his life.

  21. 21.

    The Moar You Know

    When police arrived a few minutes later, the gunman was no longer struggling, Mr. Fierro said, and he feared that he had killed him.

    When someone shows intent and has means, you can kill them.  That’s perfectly legal, anywhere in this country.

    The shooter’s body armor had a handle on the back? That seems like a bad design.

    @Mo MacArbie:   Great design if you’re using it lawfully, as part of a force that might need to drag a fellow soldier/officer to safety.

  22. 22.

    gwangung

    @The Moar You Know: Ahhhh….maybe he did that because he knew that it was there and the shooter didn’t.

    And, yeah…means/intent/opportunity pretty much takes care of any worry about culpability (though, as a human, it’s good to be concerned anyway).

  23. 23.

    cain

    @JoyceH: I’ve been to one – and they are fun! I’ve only been to one though in Portland. I haven’t had a chance to come back. Maybe my wife and I will go.

    Incidently, today is my wife and I’s 1 year anniversary (if you follow me on mastodon – I have a picture!)

  26. 26.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    @cain: Pure coincidence! How dare you try to tar this fine upstanding insurrectionist with the actions of his terrorist grandson

    @narya: Pose is on my watch list. Problem is lots of great media is being created faster than I could ever possibly consume it.

  27. 27.

    Torrey

    @Old School:

    He took his daughter to a drag show? That can get him in big trouble in Florida.

    It’s a reasonable guess that his daughter is of legal age. Although, as cain pointed out, DeSantis is looking to make it illegal, regardless.

    Me, I’m just waiting for one of these armed idiots to run into a drag queen who’s a former SEAL or Ranger or Special Forces or [fill in the blank]. Because that would be very, very special.

  29. 29.

    Mo MacArbie

    @The Moar You Know: Ah, I hadn’t considered that aspect. Guess I’ll have to refrain from bloviating about combat. I can still talk beer, but even there I’m behind the times, alas.

  32. 32.

    lowtechcyclist

    @gwangung:

    And, yeah…means/intent/opportunity pretty much takes care of any worry about culpability (though, as a human, it’s good to be concerned anyway).

    I’m glad the shooter didn’t get killed. I want him to have decades upon decades of the inside of a prison to look forward to.

  34. 34.

    rikyrah

    said he raced across the room, grabbed the gunman by a handle on the back of his body armor, pulled him to the floor and jumped on top of him.

     

    So, a murdering piece of shyt with body armor.

     

    Uh huh

    Uh huh.

  36. 36.

    Immanentize

    Someone probably said it already, but the new phrase I’m seeing is “the only thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun is a good Gay with one.”

    OT, but I gotta go teach: a little Paul Bronks humor to sum up my feelings:

    "This next song is called 'It's Still Fucking November, Andrea'" pic.twitter.com/bVN8jCPdpJ— Paul Bronks (@SlenderSherbet) November 21, 2022

  37. 37.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    @narya: Oh, OK, I recognize him from something else. I think this conversation today moved Pose further up my watch list.

  40. 40.

    Dan B

    When I was in Tacoma counseling GI’s from Fort Lewis there was a list of off limits places and the Sandbox, the gay bar, was on it.  Gi’s would go to fag bash.  There was a regular drag show led by Misty Dawn.  They regularly beat up the GI’s including with their high heels (probably really hurt).  The MO’s would show up to haul the humiliated and hurting guys.

    Misty Dawn was active in a Gay Liberation group I started – political activist to boot, or is it heel?

  41. 41.

    Matt McIrvin

    @The Moar You Know:

    When someone shows intent and has means, you can kill them.  That’s perfectly legal, anywhere in this country.

    Sure, but Fierro probably didn’t actually want to kill anybody, though he may have recognized it as possibly necessary.

  43. 43.

    West of the Cascades

    Mr. Fierro owns Atrevida Beer Co. along with his wife Jess. Jess Fierro also is head brewer. https://www.atrevidabeerco.com/why-atrevida.

    “Atrevida” means daring, bold, audacious woman in Spanish. His wife must be that to be “the first bad ass Latina Brewery Owner and Head Brewer in Colorado.” And evidently she married an atrevido, too.

  45. 45.

    trollhattan

    @Old School: Grooming with Intent? Misdemeanor or Florida Felony? Experts disagree.

    Now for something completely different: a bird last observed in 1882 has been found living on an island off Papua New Guinea.

    https://www.audubon.org/news/like-finding-unicorn-researchers-rediscover-black-naped-pheasant-pigeon-bird?utm_medium=email&utm_source=pocket_hits&utm_campaign=POCKET_HITS-EN-DAILY-RECS-2022_11_21&sponsored=0&position=5&scheduled_corpus_item_id=a1083e3d-4dd3-415f-a293-68f8f064610b

  46. 46.

    MattF

    It’s occurred to me that Grandpa just might have had something to do with causing the shooter’s rage. I hope that law enforcement is looking into that.

  47. 47.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Dan B:

    There was a regular drag show led by Misty Dawn.

    The paint color of my 2012 GMC is “Mocha Steel.” I always thought that would be a fine name for a drag queen :-)

  49. 49.

    Mike in NC

    Last year we stopped into a bar in Key West near the ferry pier for lunch. Turned out they were doing a bingo game hosted by a drag queen. It appeared the servers and bartenders were gay. It was something we’d never experienced before but all of the customers showed good humor. I never imagined some MAGA crank with a gun could walk in and shoot the place up, but that seems to be where the country is heading.

    Ron DeSantis really loves culture war bullshit and declaring open season on the gay/lesbian/trans community seems to be his #1 priority.

  50. 50.

    trollhattan

    @The Moar You Know: I took it as the guy 1. did not want to have killed somebody and 2. really did not want to have his family watch him kill somebody. As an all-around decent bloke, I can believe it’s how he felt.

    And of course the CS cops cuffed and roughed him. Programming’s a bitch.

  52. 52.

    Lady WereBear

    @Torrey: waiting for one of these armed idiots to run into a drag queen who’s a former SEAL or Ranger or Special Forces or [fill in the blank]. Because that would be very, very special.

     

    I look forward to the mini-series. Of course, a master of disguise as well.

  53. 53.

    UncleEbeneezer

    Can President Biden rescind and confiscate Rush Limbaugh’s Pres. Medal of Freedom and give it* to this heroic drag performer?

    *After properly sanitizing it, of course

  54. 54.

    Geminid

    @trollhattan: Colonel Brad Badger, the retired Army officer who wrested the gun away from the man who shot Gabby Giffords in Tuscon, was in turn almost shot by a bystander with a pistol. Another retiree, this one a 70 year old lady, grabbed a magazine away from the shooter as he was trying to reload.

    The gunman killed four people including a young girl. He was judged insane and is incarcerated in a special federal prison in Missouri.

  55. 55.

    davecb

    There is a long-standing tradition in everybody’s army that if you don’t have any girls and want to put on a show, somebody volunteers to take the drag part.

    The older chaps training us in the militia (Canadian Army Reserves) told stories of pouring out of rehearsal in drag to man the anti-aircraft guns when the alarm sounded.

  56. 56.

    ByRookorbyCrook

    My heart goes out to the victims of the Club Q shooting.

    From the Altrevida Beer Co. Facebook page

    “I have struggled with how to address the horrific series of events that has occurred. My family, friends and I decided to have a fun night out. We went to @clubqcoloradosprings to celebrate another dear friends birthday. Unfortunately, we were all there when the shooter entered. It was absolute havoc. It was terrifying. Kassy broke her knee as she was running for cover. Our best friends were both shot multiple times. I bruised the right side of my body and Rich injured both his hands, knees and ankle as he apprehended the shooter. He was covered in blood. Everyone is recovering, thankfully. No one. NO ONE should ever have to witness bloodshed like this. With an incredibly heavy and broken heart we lost Raymond, who had been a part of our lives since our daughter was in high school. Raymond was Kassy’s boyfriend. We are going to miss him and his bright smile so much. We are going through a lot of emotions as a family and as a brewery. The loss of lives and the injured are in our hearts. We are devastated and torn. We love our #lgbtq community and stand with them. This cowardly and despicable act of hate has no room in our lives or business. FUCK HATE. It has left us and our community scarred but not broken. Much love to everyone. “

  60. 60.

    davecb

    @The Moar You Know: ​

    When someone shows intent and has means, you can kill them. That’s perfectly legal, anywhere in this country.

    Agreed, but you normally want to try to use the least force you can. Alas, that’s not easy if most of what you’ve been trained in is deadly force.

  62. 62.

    cain

    Anybody gonna bet that Grampa is gonna put a lawsuit on our hero for “excessive force”? These folks are such sensitive snowflakes.

  65. 65.

    Ruckus

    @lollipopguild:

    “An unarmed citizen takes down a shooter but all of the heavily armed cops at Uvalde could not go in to a school and save some kids lives.”

    This. A billion times this.

    I wonder why he didn’t just break the guys neck?

    Maybe killing him wouldn’t have been as satisfying as beating him even more senseless. And applause for the drag queen and heels.

  66. 66.

    hells littlest angel

    The cops mistook Fierro for a perpetrator since he was covered in the suspect’s blood when they arrived.

    These motherfuckers cannot be defunded too soon. Or, more colloquially, fuck tha police.

  67. 67.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    @Ruckus: People are mostly reluctant to kill one another. If it were me, at most I would be able to hamper him.

    If I were able to muster a worthwhile punch to the face, I’d be shocked. Not a matter of technique or strength, I have no will to hurt others. I’ve taken a couple beating because I was unwilling to do more than restrain my attacker.

  68. 68.

    Ruckus

    @hells littlest angel:

    They are always going to secure the scene first and then ask questions. Better to be as safe as possible for every one than possibly find out they arrested the guy trying to stop the shooter – and not the shooter.

    It’s always chaos at the scene, except someplace like Uvalde where it’s school teachers, little kids and some dipshit with guns and a bullet proof vest on, I mean how could they possibly figure out who’s who there?

  70. 70.

    J R in WV

    Totally admire the folks who stopped the shooter cold. Ashamed of the fucking cops who put the hero in a police car when they showed up. What a great man to attack a guy with an AR-15 with his bare hands!

    Want to mention the film “She Said” which we saw last night. Harvey Weinstein the rapist, and two young women investigating his wrong doing. A great piece of history. And of course, Harvey is in prison serving 23 years, with more criminal cases ahead of him. Go see this film! Great work!

  75. 75.

    J R in WV

    @raven:
    They didn’t need to secure the area by busting the guy who actually secured the area before they got there. And if they felt they needed to put him in lock down, it didn’t need to last past a few minutes after they learned he stopped the murderer in his tracks.

    Sounds like they wanted to put the hero down with gunfire, and witnesses made them let him go.​

    I’m done here tonight. Later, ya’ll.

  78. 78.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    @raven: I’m not a big fan of the defund slogan, but we need to rethink public safety. The police did not keep this community safe.

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @Qrop Non Sequitur:

    I don’t want to hurt a fly. OK I will kill mosquitoes.

    But seriously as I’ve stated here before when I was in the navy I stood in port watch with a loaded .45 auto pistol strapped to my side and the orders were to literally shoot to kill if I thought someone was trying to board the ship to take it over or anything like that. When I was temporarily in the shore patrol for approx 6 weeks I carried a night stick that I could use in any way as long as I stopped the person doing something wrong.

    My point is that no I do not want to hurt other humans or animals. But IF I thought that at 73 yrs old I could do something to stop this fucking asshole from killing anyone else, I like to think I’d at least try. I’d have to be there and I might not do anything if all it might do is get me and others killed. But that’s the thing about all the weapons, they shouldn’t ever be there because it’s far to easy to kill if you are the only one armed and it far too easy to kill a lot of innocent people or if all or most of you are armed and start shooting. In the old west a lot of bars didn’t allow a person to be in the bar drinking and armed.

    And yes, none of us absolutely know what we’d do in a situation like this. It’s complete fucking chaos. I’m actually sort of amazed that anyone did what this man did. I’m amazed when anyone does. Which is why banning weapons designed to kill a lot of living beings in a very short time, and banning open carry is so fucking important.

    Those weapons are only meant for one thing, kill a lot of animals in a very short time. IOW weapons of warfare. They aren’t to hunt game with, target shoot with, or even protect your home, unless you truly believe that armed hordes are going to break into your house and kill the 47 people living in it.

  82. 82.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    @Ruckus: Yes, we need to be seriously considering how to restrict the availability of these weapons.

    Do we know what he was carrying?

  84. 84.

    Qrop Non Sequitur

    @raven: I was thinking more uniform rules around access to guns, better voluntary access to mental health services, better resources for compulsory mental health interventions for people who do things like make bomb threats, encouraging respect as official public policy…

    But, sure, just dismiss out of hand the notion that our public safety institutions served us poorly here. As far as I can see the time to stop this was before it started.

  86. 86.

    Salty Sam

    @Sister Golden Bear: I once saw a queen duke it out with a customer who started shit with her during her performance.

    Most vicious fight I ever witnessed was between two trans hookers fighting over a street corner territory. The fight spilled over into the vestibule of the hotel I worked at- it was mean, nasty, eye-gouging claws out brutal. The hotel security guard and I we’re watching, I asked him why he wasn’t stepping in to stop it.  His comment was some variant of “Are you out of your fucking  mind?!? I’m not getting in the middle of that!”

  88. 88.

    Betty Cracker

    @Ruckus: Unfortunately, I know what I’d do in a situation like that because I witnessed a mass shooting in an office building where I worked. I ran away like a scared bunny! The only person running away faster than I was running was the building security guard. It’s human nature to run. That’s what makes the courage of someone like Mr. Fierro so damn extraordinary.

  90. 90.

    Ruckus

    @Betty Cracker:

    I understand and I likely would run as well except I don’t run very well any more, or even near as good as I used to run, I used to run 5 miles 3 or 4 times a week, in this century. I can manage MAYBE 50 ft now before everything goes painful. I do still walk 2 miles a day.

    And absofuckinglutely about Mr. Fierro. Please do not take from my comment that I would attempt to do what he did. My training would likely make me think about it but if I could run away I likely would.

    One never really knows how they would react, many of us like to think we would take care of business but that’s just the concept of doing something. And BTW I have been shot at once. Walking back from town on my way back to the ship because I missed the last bus. A couple guys started yelling at me, I picked up the pace and they fired a round just past me. I set the olympic record for the 1/4 mile before I found an open gas station.

    I never missed the bus ever again.

  91. 91.

    Fake Irishman

    @Betty Cracker:

    Dead thread, but I wanted to chime in here: Betty, you did the right thing! Quickly getting clear of a dangerous situation is generally a smart thing to do; it both protects yourself and simplifies the situation for professional responders.

  92. 92.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    I expect I would freeze, just stand there shocked. You never know, though.

  93. 93.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    I showed the picture of the vet hero Richard Fierro in his garage to my husband, and he immediately noticed several San Diego Chargers banners on the back wall.  Go Richard

    ETA: Horrible that one of the people killed was his daughter’s long-time boyfriend.  They were there supporting one of her good firend who was in the drag show.  So sad.

  96. 96.

    Cave Alien

    A righteously unregulated drag show, being necessary to the entertainment of a free state, the right of fabulous people to vamp and bear tactical heels, shall not be infringed.

  97. 97.

    HumboldtBlue

    It’s always amazing how Adam’s “short, brief post tonight” still ends up with an hour of homework. Well, the dough is proofing, so there’s time.

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