Authorities missed a decades-long trail of red flags signaling a Florida man’s escalating hatred of women before the 2018 Florida yoga studio shooting that killed two and injured five, the US Secret Service found in a new report.
In a 28-page case study released Tuesday, the agency said the Nov. 2, 2018, attack by Scott P. Beierle at Hot Yoga Tallahassee highlighted a specific threat posed by “misogynistic extremism,” sometimes referred to as “male supremacy.” .
The report was compiled by the National Threat Assessment Center, which is part of the Secret Service and whose role is to analyze threat data and law enforcement responses.
Investigators say the number of red flags has increased exponentially over the years. These included arrests for battery, repeated accusations of stalking, and open demonstrations of hostility towards women.
Investigators have found that Mr. Bayerle once wrote a script about a teenage outcast who becomes a serial killer and takes revenge on the girls who rejected him. As the police approach, the boy kills himself in anticipation of events.
“Communities must stay aware of misogynistic extremism while taking preventive measures to identify and intervene against those who pose a risk of violence,” Lina Alatari, head of the threat assessment center, said Tuesday.
Investigators found that in the months before the attack, which ended with Mr Beyerle, 40, taking his own life, he had been investigating a support group camp in Florida. The Secret Service said it also became aware that Mr. Bayerle once visited a sorority at Florida State University in Tallahassee, where serial killer Ted Bundy killed two women and attacked several others.
In the decades prior to the fatal attack, Mr Beyerle “dealt with numerous cases of inappropriate and criminal behavior against women and girls,” the Secret Service report says. Credit…Leon County Sheriff’s Office via AP
“The attacker was motivated to violence by his inability to develop or maintain relationships with women, and by his perception of women’s social power over men,” the report says. “Decades before, he was involved in numerous cases of inappropriate and criminal behavior against women and girls.”
His views, investigators say, are those of men who identify as unwittingly celibate or “incels” whose lack of successful relationships with women fuels their hostility towards them.
The Secret Service said in a report that those who commit such acts of violence do not fit the general profile.
“However, what is shared by most perpetrators can be observed in relation to the behavior exhibited prior to the onset of violence,” the report says. “While every act of targeted violence cannot be prevented, the risk of future tragedies can be reduced if appropriate systems are in place to identify warning signs, collect information to assess the risk of violence, and use appropriate community resources.”
Alex DiBranco, executive director and co-founder of the Institute for Research on Male Superiority, said on Tuesday that the report confirms disturbing details about Mr. Bayerle that emerged weeks and months after the shooting.
“He is an example of where there are a lot of red flags,” Ms. DiBranco said. “It’s a bit shocking that he could do things like that in the future.”
The attack on the yoga studio fit the pattern, she said, adding that it’s no wonder Mr Beyerle’s obsession with cheerleaders and sororities.
“In the minds of criminals, they are associated with young, unattainable, attractive women,” Ms. DiBranco said.
According to a Secret Service report, Mr Beyerle was fired from his job at an insurance call center while in college for harassing a colleague who refused to file criminal charges. This episode, along with others, inspired him to write the song “Stalker”.
In 2006, Mr. Bayerle was the subject of a police investigation in Maryland, where he was teaching at the time, and investigators found he was accused of inappropriate behavior by a high school student. No criminal charges have been filed against Mr Bayerle, who authorities say asked the student if she would ever appear in Playboy magazine and if she would wear low-cut shirts.
The report says that while Mr Beyerle served in the US Army in Europe from around 2008, four female US Air Force pilots accused him of inappropriate behavior. In 2010, he was honorably fired for “unacceptable behavior.”
In 2012, Mr. Bayerle was arrested for molesting two women in a Florida State University cafeteria, but the charges were dropped due to lack of evidence.
And in 2016, he was charged with battery after he hit and groped a woman by the pool at his apartment complex, a charge that was dropped after Mr Beierle completed court-ordered sex addiction counseling.
That same year, Mr. Bayerle was fired from his job as a substitute teacher at a public school in Florida for violating internet usage policies, according to investigators, who said he was viewing pornography on a school device.
On November 2, 2018, Mr. Beierle used his first and middle name to sign up for a class at Hot Yoga Tallahassee, where he strutted around with his newly purchased yoga mat. The lesson had already begun when he put on his headphones, pulled out his Glock pistol and opened fire.
Ms. DiBranco, who studies violence against women, said it’s encouraging to see investigators focusing on overlooked warning signs of misogynistic extremism.
“Over the past few years, we have definitely seen progress in recognizing male supremacy as an ideology,” she said.