Man intentionally crashes light plane into IRS offices

[SteamWake]

In texas...

Look out private pilots your life is about to become more complicated.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,586581,00.html

White house states "Its not terrorisim"!

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010...+Politics%2529

Just some angry guy in a plane I guess.

[FIREWALL]

How much you wanna bet other IRS workers in buildings near airports are a bit nervous now.

I like the White House response.

[Oberon]

Define Terrorism. I'd say that the people at the IRS office were hardly calm and collected...

[lorka42]

pardon me, but I was under the impression that a terrorist ws someone who does violence against people for their beliefs, or because of the peoples beliefs that the violence is directed against. Am I mistaken?

[Oberon]

It would seem that there is no proper international definition of Terrorism, however Dictionary.com has it defined as:

The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

Unlawful use of violence by a person - Crashing a plane is pretty violent
Against people or property - IRS office
Intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments - Well, he didn't do it for lols, that's for certain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorism

[UnderseaLcpl]

Anyone remember that report on domestic terrorism that came out a while ago? I remember it, because Libertarians and Ron Paul supporters were thoroughly pissed off about it, since they were mentioned as candidates for acts of "domestic terror". I was pissed off about that, too, as I couldn't concieve the idea of Libertarian (or similar) radical actually comitting an act of terror; it is completely against our principles. It would be using force or coercion against people who had not attacked us.

However, I think I may have been very wrong. What makes me think that is this statement from the pilot's suicide note:
"If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?'" the note read. "The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time...
"Violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer...

I pretty sure there isn't one person in this country who really likes the IRS. Even some of the IRS employees I have talked to don't like the IRS, but Libertarians hate the IRS with a passion. Well, some of them do, anyway. The reason for that hatred is belief in the theory that taxation is theft. It more or less goes that since governments derive their authority from force and the use of force against someone who did not violate your rights first is immoral, taxation is immoral. After all, if you don't pay your taxes you go to jail and if you won't go to jail, they will force you to go to jail and maybe kill you - not much different from a street thug who robs you at gunpoint. I feel wierd saying this given what I quoted above, but, its actually a lot more complicated than that.. but this thread isn't about ethics and political theory.

Anyhow, the last words in the text quoted make me think that this guy was a Libertarian (or some variation thereof) radical. If I'm right about him, he is a person who strongly believes in individualism, and that is why his last words are so seemingly cryptic; he wants people to question them and search them for meaning, because he is certain that they will ultimately arrive at the same conclusion he has. People of all beliefs do that from time to time, but it is particularly prevalent amongst believers in individualism. Assuming I'm correct about all this, the only thing I don't really understand is why he would fly a plane into a building full of people who had never hurt him. Even if he had problems with the IRS, the use of force against unarmed people who don't know they are hurting you is unethical. Employees of the IRS are not the IRS. Perhaps his perception was skewed, or perhaps he was just a wacko to begin with.

There are a lot of people in the US, and especially in Texas, who are ready and willing to revolt against the government and establish what they see as a free state. I'm one of them. If there was a Libertarian revolution tommorrow I'd be on the front lines by the next day. But I'm not about to fly a plane into a freaking building or try to kill scores of innocent people by any other means because I'm not a freaking madman.

I really hope I'm wrong about this guy, because if I am right about him it means that we who are economic conservatives and social liberals are being undermined by our own. J.A. Stack, and anyone who follows him, are doing to us what radical Muslims have done to Islam. We will triumph because we are right, and our vision will be adopted or rejected by others of their own free will, not by coercion or terror.

[Castout]

Poor guy why would he waste his life . . .

[Bubblehead1980]

Undersealcpl...



The fact is this guy went nutty and offed himself by crashing into an IRS building.There is a peaceful revolt going on in America now.A great number of us are tired of Liberals and their "Progressive(hate that term because their policies are actually REGRESSIVE).The real Conservatives who believe in the Constitution are fired up and can wait for November 2010 and November 2012, think Americans have learned a lesson from 06 and 08 elections.We will take America back via the correct methods not crashing a plane into a building like an idiot.Don't let the acts of one crazy fool question your beliefs.Always a few crazys in every bunch.

What he did is no different than some far left winger shooting up a police station etc like what went on back in the 60's and 70's Takes crazy people to actually go through with it.Again crazys on all sides.

[CaptainHaplo]

Local "liberal" media (880 AM) had a field day with this - trying to tie this guys 7 page manifesto to the Tea Party movement.

The fact is the hardcore left SEES the fact that the average American is against the (insert label here - progressive, socialist, whatever) direction that the hard left has tried to take the country, and they are trying to find ANY way they can to marginalize any group that disagrees with them, no matter how much they need to reach.

[FIREWALL]

Here in California and I think all over US.

You threaten someone and you can be charged with makeing A Terriost Threat.

[GoldenRivet]

Read the "manifesto"

agree with virtually every word.

However, I can't say any single sentence of the whole document is worth putting a plane through a seven story window... but then again... im more or less "normal" depending on your definition.

[Highbury]

It is sadly ironic that the lead-in advertisment for this video report was H&R Block when I first watched it...

http://video.foxnews.com/v/4024344/b...rash-manifesto

[Castout]

Saw the damage on tv it was quite bad. The smoke is pretty thick.

What the man did was obviously wrong and cannot be justified but not forget that he's a victim too. He must have been pushed to commit the action. Desperate people do drastic measures even sacrificing his own life.

[bookworm_020]

It seems going postal is now out of date. I know that people get frustrated with the tax man, but killing people who are trying to do their job isn't the way to vent your frustrations

[TarJak]

My first thought when I heard this on the radio was I hope it wasn't GR doing his nana! Shocking way to protest against your government and clearly the guy was unstable but WTF drove him so nuts as to go this far? I understand he set his house on fire before leaving for the airfield.