Former Army soldier sentenced to 2 years in prison for threatening Fort Irwin

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A former U.S. Army soldier who posted a video to YouTube threatening to commit a mass shooting at Fort Irwin will spend 24 months in prison. Christian Beyer, 42, was formally sentenced on Sept. 19, nearly a year after he shared his intention to sneak onto the base and murder specific soldiers.

The two-year sentence comes three months after Beyer pleaded guilty to sending threats via interstate communication. In October 2023, Beyer posted a nearly three-minute-long video naming specific Fort Irwin personnel that he was targeting, and stating that he knew ways to access Fort Irwin without being detected. Beyer vowed to “hunt” soldiers and military families. Fort Irwin, home to the National Training Center, in San Bernardino County. 

“I had a great life and will die for what I believe in,” he said in the video. “If you come to get me and you have a uniform on, you’re an enemy and I will not look at you as anything else.”

Authorities found several other videos from September 2023 featuring similar threats. Law enforcement began looking for Beyer in late October, searching for him in Mendocino County. He fled, briefly threatening a group of senior citizens with a knife and a car. He was able to evade law enforcement for two days. He was eventually found in his father’s home in Sonoma County in northern California after a manhunt and arrested on Nov. 1. 

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Beyer previously was stationed at Fort Irwin. He joined the Army in 2000 and deployed five times, including three deployments to Iraq. He was court martialed in 2021 over an assault incident. Beyer left the Army in 2023. When he was arrested, authorities said that Beyer knew trails and other ways to get past the main gates at Fort Irwin. It’s unclear what his plan was to reach the southern California base or if and when he intended to actually attack it. 

“Mr. Beyer’s desire to carry out violence against members of our military and their families led to a federal prison sentence,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement from the Department of Justice. “Our military servicemembers deserve better and we will continue to prosecute those who seek to harm public servants.”

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Nicholas Slayton

Contributing Editor

Nicholas Slayton is a Contributing Editor for Task & Purpose. In addition to covering breaking news, he writes about history, shipwrecks, and the military’s hunt for unidentified anomalous phenomenon (formerly known as UFOs). He currently runs the Task & Purpose West Coast Bureau from Los Angeles.