It was a crime that shocked the nation.
In August 2009, George Sodoni opened fire inside an LA Fitness Center near Pittsburgh, killing three women and injuring nine others. Sodoni then committed suicide.
Sodoni’s writings indicated a deep-seated hatred for women, and local police eventually reported the incident to Pennsylvania State Police as a hate crime. But for reasons that remain unclear, the incident is categorized as an “anti-gender-nonconforming” hate crime on the state police website.
No contemporary media accounts indicate that Sodoni’s victims were gender-nonconforming, nor that Sodoni perceived them to be.
According to Sodoni’s published writings, he wanted to strike out against all women due to his lack of a romantic relationship. Police say he didn’t personally know his victims.
Some LGBT advocates say the incident should be categorized as an “anti-female” hate crime.
The massacre occurred in Collier Township, near Pittsburgh, and was investigated by local police, who were assisted by the Allegheny County Police Department.
Coleman McDonough, superintendent of the Allegheny County Police Department, said in an email his agency did the “lion’s share” of the investigation.
McDonough acknowledged the department found evidence of an “anti-female” hate crime, but referred additional questions to the Collier Township Police Department.
Craig Campbell, chief of the Collier Township Police Department, didn’t return phone calls and emails for comment.
Justin F. Robinette, a local civil-rights attorney, said law-enforcement agencies should accurately track and report all hate crimes against targeted groups.
“Labeling the L.A. Fitness massacre ‘anti-gender-nonconforming’ does a disservice to everyone dedicated to accurate hate-crimes reporting,” Robinette told PGN. “The report in its current format gives no indication that women were targeted [by Sodoni]. That’s outrageous.”
Robinette added: “In my law practice, I deal with agencies all the time that try to make anti-LGBT discrimination invisible. Are the police doing the same thing with the LA Fitness massacre? Are they trying to make an anti-female hate crime invisible?”
Nancy Baron-Baer, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the organization’s initiative, “50 States Against Hate,” seeks to improve the country’s approach to hate crimes. In an email, she cited four main goals: stronger laws, enhanced training for law-enforcement, improved data collection and reporting and community education.
“Pennsylvania’s hate-crime law does not include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability,” Baron-Baer said. “We also want to improve hate-crime identification, response and reporting. Many cities in the U.S. either did not report any hate-crime data or reported zero hate crimes. Community education can build trust and advance police-community relations.”
As of presstime, a state-police spokesperson had no comment about whether the categorization for the incident will be revised.
On Nov. 4, PGN filed an open-records request with Collier Township officials for a copy of their submission to the state police, which resulted in the anti-gender-nonconforming hate-crime report. On Nov. 14, township officials denied the request, saying no such record could be located.