Florida Yoga Studio Gunman Had History of Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism

The gunman who killed two women and wounded five others at a Florida yoga studio before killing himself had a history of posting homophobic, racist, and misogynistic videos, including one with a song called "Who Let the Fags Out," several media outlets are reporting.

Police identified Scott Beierle, 40, as the man who opened fire inside Hot Yoga Tallahassee Friday evening. Those who died were Dr. Nancy Van Vessem, 61, a faculty member at Florida State University's College of Medicine, and FSU student Maura Binkley, 21. Beierle also wounded four other women and a man.

The incendiary videos, mostly posted in 2014, were first reported by BuzzFeedtoday. In addition to the "Who Let the Fags" out video, they included one calling women "sluts" and "whores," and saying women in interracial relationships had betrayed "their blood." He also railed against racial diversity, made anti-immigrant remarks, and said the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive mandate enabled "the casual sex lives of slutty girls." The videos have now been removed from YouTube.

Beierle identified as an "incel," or involuntary celibate, and in his videos lamented the fact that some men can't get sex. In one he expressed sympathy for Elliot Rodger, who in 2014 killed six people and injured 14 others in a stabbing and shooting attack in Isla Vista, Calif. Rodger subsequently killed himself.

"I'd like to send a message now to the adolescent males ... that are in the position, the situation, the disposition of Elliot Rodger, of not getting any, no love, no nothing," Beierle said, according to BuzzFeed. "This endless wasteland that breeds this longing and this frustration. That was me, certainly, as an adolescent." The man accused of driving his van into a crowd in Toronto earlier this year, killing 10 people, had also invoked Rodger's name.

Those who knew Beierle remembered him as "odd and obnoxious," often making inappropriate comments to women, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. He was arrested twice for grabbing women by the buttocks without their consent, but the charges were ultimately dropped.

Tallahassee police officer Damon Miller told BuzzFeed he could not yet say if Beierle specifically set out to shoot women at the yoga studio or to what extent the videos would be considered in the investigation. "Everything that he has a connection to we're investigating right now," Miller said.