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Gunman in Yoga Studio Shooting Recorded Racist, Misogynistic Videos in 2014 Gunman in Yoga Studio Shooting Recorded Misogynistic Videos and Faced Battery Charges
(about 2 hours later)
The 40-year-old man who police said shot and killed two women at a Florida yoga studio on Friday spewed racist and misogynistic vitriol in YouTube videos posted in 2014, lamenting his inability to have successful relationships with women. In online videos, he spewed misogynistic and racist vitriol — and railed against all the women who had turned him down.
The gunman, Scott P. Beierle of Deltona, Fla., fatally shot himself and injured five others after he entered the yoga studio in Tallahassee, Fla., shortly after 5:30 p.m. and began shooting patrons with a handgun, the police said. In real life, records show, he had a history of harassing women and was accused of touching women’s buttocks without their consent.
The two women who died were both connected to Florida State University, where Mr. Beierle had been arrested at least twice in the past, one time on charges of battery against women, records show. And on Friday, the authorities said, he shot two women to death and injured five other people at a Florida yoga studio before killing himself.
In videos posted over a three-day period in August 2014, Mr. Beierle identified with “involuntary celibates,” railed against interracial dating and portrayed women and girls throughout his life as vindictive for refusing to go out with him. The gunman, Scott P. Beierle, 40, posed as a customer at the studio in Tallahassee, Fla., and then opened fire without warning, the police said. The authorities were investigating to determine Mr. Beierle’s connection to the yoga studio and the victims.
He expressed sympathy with Elliot O. Rodger, who killed six people in Isla Vista, Calif., only three months before Mr. Beierle recorded the videos. Mr. Rodger had himself expressed his disgust at women online and urged “incels” — a shorthand for involuntary celibates — to fight back. Officials identified the victims who were killed as Dr. Nancy Van Vessem, 61, a faculty member at Florida State University, and Maura Binkley, 21, a student at the school. Four women and one man suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Mr. Beierle said in one of his videos that, as an adolescent, he had understood “this endless wasteland that breeds this longing and this frustration.” “There are no words to express the shock and grief we feel,” John Thrasher, the president of Florida State University, said on Twitter on Saturday. He added, “To lose one of our students and one of our faculty members in this tragic and violent way is just devastating to the FSU family.”
Mr. Beierle told personal stories of rejection, going so far as to name multiple girls who he said had wronged him. Mr. Beierle, whom the authorities said had prior military service, lived in Deltona, Fla., and had been staying at a hotel while visiting Tallahassee, the police said. He was a graduate of Florida State, where he had been arrested at least twice, once on charges of battery against women, according to records and the police.
“Made one date, didn’t show up,” he said of one woman. “Made another date, didn’t show up. Kept making excuses. Ah, I could’ve ripped her head off.” He also had a history of expressing misogynistic and racist views. In a series of videos posted over a three-day period in August 2014, he ranted against women and minorities, the police and the Army — anyone and everyone who he believed had wronged him.
Among his videos were diatribes about what he called the “Plight of the Adolescent Male” and the “Dangers of Diversity.” In another video, he castigates girls for not understanding what it’s like for adolescent males to deal with the expectations of sex and dating.
“I don’t think a female can ever understand the societal pressure that’s put on an adolescent male to unburden himself of this stigma that society’s put on him,” he said. “This virginity burden.”
BuzzFeed News first reported on the videos.BuzzFeed News first reported on the videos.
On Friday, when Mr. Beierle began shooting inside the studio, Hot Yoga Tallahassee, some inside fought back against him, preventing a greater tragedy, Michael DeLeo, the chief of the Tallahassee Police Department, said in a statement on Saturday. In the videos, Mr. Beierle pontificated from a dimly lit bedroom, with an unmade bed and a pile of cardboard boxes in the background. He lamented his inability to connect with other people — from Army comrades who he said would not travel with him while stationed in Europe to women who refused to go out with him.
Officials identified the victims who were shot and killed as Dr. Nancy Van Vessem, 61, and Maura Binkley, 21. Three of those injured had been released from the hospital as of Saturday morning. The other two were in stable condition, the police said. Four of the injured victims were women, and one was a man. He identified with “involuntary celibates” and told personal stories of rejection, naming multiple girls who he said had wronged him.
John Thrasher, the president of Florida State University, said on Twitter on Saturday that Ms. Binkley was a student at the university and Dr. Van Vessem was a faculty member. A profile on the university’s website said Dr. Van Vessem was responsible for coordinating the third- and fourth-year clerkship rotations in internal medicine at the Tallahassee campus. “Made one date, didn’t show up,” he said of one woman. “Made another date, didn’t show up. Kept making excuses. Ah, I could’ve ripped her head off.”
Pam Irwin, the executive director of Capital Medical Society, of which Dr. Van Vessem was a member, said that she was a personal friend who was known as an advocate for others. He expressed sympathy with Elliot O. Rodger, who killed six people in Isla Vista, Calif., three months before Mr. Beierle recorded the videos. Mr. Rodger had expressed his disgust at women online and urged “incels” — shorthand for involuntary celibates — to fight back.
“She was an outstanding physician with a passion for access to health care,” Ms. Irwin said. “Without being aware, she was a mentor. She represented how to serve others with wisdom, ethics, compassion and collaboration.” In the videos, Mr. Beierle also railed against interracial dating, and used racist and disparaging language when talking about black people.
Ms. Binkley, a senior, was set to graduate in May, said Azalee Vereen, her aunt. Ms. Binkley was majoring in journalism and German, and was preparing for life after college by applying for programs like Fulbright and Teach for America. He also referred to trouble with the Army after an incident in Amsterdam in which he said four women complained about his behavior. “I got too rowdy for their sensibilities,” he said.
Records show that Mr. Beierle moved from Vestal, N.Y., near Binghamton, to Tallahassee in 2011.
In December 2012, Mr. Beierle was charged with battery after a woman accused him of grabbing her buttocks at a dining hall on Florida State’s campus in Tallahassee. The charges were dismissed in May 2013, court records show.
In 2014, Mr. Beierle was charged with trespassing at a dining hall on campus and was given pretrial intervention, though it was unclear exactly what that entailed or how the case was resolved.
Mr. Beierle was again charged with battery in June 2016, but the charge was dismissed in 2017, records show.
In that case, Tallahassee police records show, Mr. Beierle was arrested after he approached a woman sunbathing at a pool and complimented her on her figure. He offered to put sunscreen on her buttocks, but she told him no and he groped her without her permission, according to the police report.
On Friday, Mr. Beierle entered Hot Yoga Tallahassee with a handgun, the police said. When he began shooting, some people inside fought back, preventing a greater tragedy, Michael DeLeo, the chief of the Tallahassee Police Department, said in a statement on Saturday.
Ms. Binkley, a senior at Florida State, was set to graduate in May, said Azalee Vereen, her aunt. Ms. Binkley was majoring in journalism and German, and was preparing for life after college by applying for programs like Fulbright and Teach for America.
Ms. Binkley, who grew up in a northern suburb of Atlanta, was “very smart, very beautiful and just very giving,” Ms. Vereen said.Ms. Binkley, who grew up in a northern suburb of Atlanta, was “very smart, very beautiful and just very giving,” Ms. Vereen said.
Chief DeLeo said Mr. Beierle was a graduate of Florida State University and had been staying at a local hotel leading up to the shooting. Investigators are still trying to determine a connection between the gunman and the victims or the studio, the chief said. Dr. Van Vessem was responsible for coordinating the third- and fourth-year clerkship rotations in internal medicine at the Tallahassee campus of Florida State, according to a profile on the university’s website.
The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant on Saturday at Mr. Beierle’s home, and multiple search warrants were secured for his electronic devices and social media profiles. “She was an outstanding physician with a passion for access to health care,” said Pam Irwin, the executive director of Capital Medical Society, a Tallahassee-based professional organization for physicians, of which Dr. Van Vessem was a member. “Without being aware, she was a mentor. She represented how to serve others with wisdom, ethics, compassion and collaboration.”
Records in Leon County, Fla., show that Mr. Beierle moved from Vestal, N.Y., near Binghamton, to Tallahassee in 2011. Myra Hurt, a medical professor and senior associate dean at Florida State, called Dr. Van Vessem “a formidable woman.”
Court records show that Mr. Beierle was charged in December 2012 with battery after a woman accused him of grabbing her buttocks at a dining hall on the campus of Florida State University in Tallahassee. The charges were dismissed in May 2013. “I knew going into a meeting with her that I had to be ready,” she said. “Even if we didn’t agree on something, you knew she was operating from a position of protecting her patients. She was a woman of substance. She was the real thing.”
In 2014, Mr. Beierle was charged with trespassing at a dining hall on campus and was given some sort of pretrial intervention, though it was unclear on Saturday exactly what that entailed or how the case was resolved.
In June 2016, Mr. Beierle was again charged with battery, but the charge was dismissed in 2017.
According to the local television station, the 2016 arrest happened after Mr. Beierle was accused of grabbing a woman’s buttocks at his apartment complex. Court records said he asked a woman who was sunbathing if he could rub sunscreen on her buttocks, and he grabbed them after she said no, the station reported.
A lawyer whose firm represented Mr. Beierle in the 2012 and 2016 cases, Don Pumphrey Jr., declined to comment on those cases Saturday. “Our hearts go out to the families,” he said.
Jack Campbell, a Florida state attorney, declined to comment on the cases and referred questions to the Tallahassee Police Department, which did not respond to questions on Saturday.
Pictures posted to a Facebook profile for Mr. Beierle show him posing with a cutout of Ronald Reagan. Other pictures show Mr. Beierle in a United States Army uniform.
On a LinkedIn profile, Scott Beierle said he was a deputy director for supply and logistics for the Army from 2008 to 2010. He said he distributed military resources, and also served as a “senior field artillery officer.”
An Army spokesman said he was seeking to verify Mr. Beierle’s service record.