Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

The long, rambling rant posted on a website eerily reflected the angry populist sentiments that have swept the country in the past year. In it, a Joe Stack inveighed against intrusive Big Brother government, corrupt corporate giants, irrational taxes, as well as the “puppet” George Bush. “I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue,” he wrote. “I have just had enough. I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt.” And then Stack apparently got in a Piper Cherokee PA-28 at about 9:40 a.m. at an airport in suburban Austin, Texas, and flew the plane into a commercial building housing an IRS office, killing himself, seriously injuring two people on the ground and starting a conflagration that lasted several hours.

The building houses regional offices of the IRS and other federal agencies. As one unidentified office worker from the building said, “If you have problems with the IRS, this is where you come in person to work them out.” According to news reports, 199 IRS employees work in the building, and all are accounted for. Toward the end of what appears to be his final note, Stack wrote, “Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.”

These economic times are creating stress. This guy is being called a terrorist. Why are all these people named Joe?




  1. woody says:

    I call bullshit. The government seems to have all the means, motives, and opportunity of what happened as well as a suspects name and “manifesto” just a few short hours after the event. And as of 6pm, according to the local news, the pilots body has NOT been found yet. Kinda like 9/11/01. Not 2 hours after 9/11, the media and the gov had 19 arabic names, and bin Laden convicted as the mastermind, before an investigation was ever underway.

    Another false flag.

  2. aslightlycrankygeek says:

    It is funny to watch people make this political already. If you read this guys suicide manifesto, you would see this guy really does not fit into any clear idealogy.
    i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/02/18/stack.letter.pdf?hpt=T1
    He contradicts himself, blasts capitalism, seems to prefer communism but then is mad that the government wants to take his possessions. He was just an angry man looking for someone to blame. He owned a nice house and an airplane, but is upset because life isn’t fair and you can’t get ahead in this country? He claimed he used to be poor, and yet wasted tens of thousands of dollars trying to exploit tax loopholes that rich people exploit to prove how the tax loopholes are not fair. (But failed.)

    I would expect nothing less than lame attempts to attack ideologies and religion on this blog. But seriously, #5, #7, set your tired straw man arguments aside and read a little before you embarrass yourself. This guy was anti-Christian, anti-Capitalism, anti-Government, anti-Tax, anti-Bush, and anti-Logic. His actions and beliefs prove nothing.

  3. Anon says:

    Good to see people are getting angry and upset and taking action, I hope this hits a boiling point soon.

    I wish he had picked a better target, but kudos to him for having the balls to stand up and do something, even when he understood that he wouldn’t be able to change business as usual.

  4. W. T. Effyall says:

    #28 – His terrorism career was as successful as his software career.

    #26 – I used to live within a few miles of the Arboretum area, too. I was also a contract software engineer during rough times. I also had trouble finding work in Austin. So, I found contracts in other areas, and eventually moved to one of those areas.

    Blaming others because the world has sharp edges is not conducive to success, and should definitely not be mixed with flying airplanes.

  5. W. T. Effyall says:

    #30 – Actually, I was ridiculing those who try to make this political.

  6. Anon says:

    #28
    He wasn’t going for a high score, he wanted to suicide and hurt those that hurt him (the IRS). I don’t get where you all get the intention he was out to kill a bunch of Americans and induce national terror. Did the media spoon feed you that, or what?

    His goal was to make a statement, and he did so. I wouldn’t consider that a failure.

  7. I. B. Geflargen says:

    #31 – OK then, we have one solid vote in favor of suicide bombing of civilian targets. Anyone else care to go on record?

  8. Anon says:

    Over 9000 proxies.

    IRS != civilian

  9. W. T. Effyall says:

    #34 – Have you ever seen that building? I have. I used to drive by it frequently. It contains 100,233 square feet of office space.

    Who was inside? A bunch of Americans. Some work in the IRS offices. There are also commercial offices in the building. It is in a complex with several similar buildings, next to a major shopping center, and two high-traffic highways.

    The fact that the death rate was so low is a testament to the unremitting failure of this whining, self-absorbed narcissist to get anything accomplished effectively in his pathetic excuse for a life.

    In this case, his ineffectiveness fortunately means that the hundreds of office workers present during his psychopathic rampage get to go home to their families tonight.

  10. Dr Dodd says:

    #34-Anon-he wanted to suicide and hurt those that hurt him (the IRS).

    Don’t know if he hated the IRS, but by the looks of it he sure had a problem with that building.

  11. heavygear says:

    #7 Glass Half Full said,

    Your stupid mother fucker Tim McVeigh was not from Oklahoma he bombed the Federal building in downtown Oklahoma city. But why don’t you just bring your chicken shit ass here and see how far you get.

  12. W. T. Effyall says:

    #39 said “Tim McVeigh was not from Oklahoma”

    Good point. McVeigh was from the Buffalo, NY area. Extremely not from Oklahoma. The innocent people he slaughtered, however, were from Oklahoma.

  13. Arkyn1 says:

    #35 Since when have government offices become “civilian targets”? Ever heard of the C3 (C-Cubed) attack strategy? It’s what “we” here in America practice every time “we” go to war. Interrupt/Disrupt/Destroy Command, Control, and Communications. And guess who they are? All GOVERNMENT. The IRS and ANY Government office easily fall into the Command and Control categories. They are MILITARY TARGETS. They are simply so diffuse in this country that they cannot all be attacked and/or destroyed at once. “We” have a name for that type of target, also. It’s called (appropriately enough) a Hydra.

    Anon, I agree completely. He was trying to make a statement. And he made it. And it cost him his life. These statements have been made before, and I daresay they will become more prevalent as “we” descend to the status of third-world country.

    BTW, I put quotes on “we”, because it is a false network. Something Kurt Vonnegut Jr. called a “granfaloon”. Make no mistake. I like this country, I live here, but I do not condone what has been perpetrated by the people in it. I am not part of “we”.

    Oh yes, about the third C (Communications)? That makes Television, Radio, Print, and Virtual Media the other “bona-fide” military target. Remember, “we” used these tactics in Iraq. So if you work for the media, or you are “in” the media, and you don’t know what you risk, you know now.

  14. I. B. Geflargen says:

    #41 So, what you are saying then, is that in addition to being a dickless, whining failure, he was an enemy of the United States of America?

    OK, as an American, I’ll buy that.

  15. Arkyn1 says:

    #42 No, not the United States of America… just the corruption in it’s government. Which he stated. Which is not the same thing. And ad hominems aimed at him are somewhat puerile, don’t you think? I do not condone what he did, make no mistake. But it is not difficult to understand his frustration.

  16. soundwash says:

    *sigh*

    Another Manchurian Candidate bites the dust..
    /me lights a candle.

    (please, this is a total setup. they don’t even *try* to make the stories different anymore..)

    also, a lot of “9’s are sprinkled throughout the stories, either directly or added up.. 19 too.. perhaps the “illuminated ones” are having some fun? I mean, who else would make the “All Seeing Eye” show up on today’s LASCO C3 animation at around 11:49am CST? (Lasco satellites watch the sun)

    http://soundwash.net/solar_spikes/LASCOc3_2010.02.18_17.49.09.jpg

    hmm…who’s watching who??

    -coincidence? I think NOT!

    lol

    -s

  17. Curtis E. Flush says:

    Wow, just tuning in.

    Some nut job goes postal and tries to incinerate a building full of clerks, and a bunch of camo-freaks are online acting like he was on some kind of military mission?

    Priceless!

  18. I. B. Geflargen says:

    #44 – No, ad hominems against this dirtbag are not at all puerile. What is puerile is to turn one’s frustrations in life into an ad hominem attack with an airplane.

  19. Arkyn1 says:

    #47 Fair enough. I guess in this case two wrongs make someone right. In any case, I formally withdraw.

  20. MikeN says:

    Stack’s suicide note indicates that he hated big drug companies, the Catholic Church, organized religion, George W. Bush, and capitalism.

    Hmm, maybe it’s not Obama’s fault. It’s the fault of this blog.

  21. Personality says:

    Not to sound trollish, but the guy looks republican.

  22. Curtis E. Flush says:

    So, this was basically a Stack-heap collision.

  23. Serious says:

    You can read his letter here: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2010/0218102stack1.html

    Does not sound like rambling to me… seems like a genuine, intelligent guy that just had enough of being fucked over and was pushed to the brink. His solution to resolve the problem was the bad part, but a four page document explaining his reason is far from rambling. Bad to take it out on the clerks though…

  24. roastwithunibomber says:

    I tried to read his rambling manifesto.
    Sounds like a tax cheat who couldn’t get
    the entire nation to rally around his cause,
    and the voices in his head told him,
    “violence is the ONLY answer!”

    So hows that working out for you,
    Stack of ****?

    I see a 3 hour No Agenda special coming
    soon.

  25. GF says:

    I’m devastated that he destroyed a Piper Cherokee. What a shame.

  26. George says:

    There’s no way that small aircraft could have done so much damage to the building. Notice how no government workers were killed. Obviously this was no aircraft, but instead was a missile, or even a bomb. Joe Stack got too close to the truth, so his house was bombed (remember neighbors said their windows got blown out, fires don’t blow out windows). Stack was kidnapped and taken away in his own plane never to be seen again. (Notice how no body was found). Then the Echelon building (Echelon is also the name of the top secret NSA sigint network…this is not a coincidence) was demolished by NWO operatives.

    Its all as plain as the nose on your face.

  27. deowll says:

    I believe the gentleman slightly over reacted. Perhaps he had anger management issues?

  28. Lou says:

    Note to IRS.
    Never get in a beef with a guy named Joe.

  29. gooddebate says:

    Umm, if you think you’re on a sinking ship, what good does it do to start shooting the crew even if they are incompetent?

  30. pwuk says:

    Perhaps it was a tragic accident, he was stopping by to deliver his tax return when he lost control …


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