February 19, 2010 10:05 AM

Joe Stack is a "True American Hero": Facebook Groups Support Domestic Terrorist

By
Edecio Martinez
Topics
Daily Blotter
(billyeli.com)
(AP PHOTO)
(AP Photo/Jack Plunkett)
AUSTIN, Texas (CBS/AP) Some would call Joseph Andrew Stack, the software engineer who crashed his small plane into an IRS office building in Austin, a domestic terrorist. But there are fans on Facebook and Twitter who are now claiming he's a "true American hero."

Photo: Joseph Stack.

PICTURES: Austin Plane Crash

Before flying his single engine Piper PA-28 into the hulking black-glass office building Thursday morning, the 53-year-old apparently posted a rambling screed on a Web site in which he railed against "big brother," the Catholic Church, the "unthinkable atrocities" committed by big business and the government bailouts that followed. He took particular aim at the IRS, telling them to "take my pound of flesh and sleep well."

In the note, signed "Joe Stack (1956-2010)" and dated Thursday, he said he slowly came to the conclusion that "violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer."

And some people on Facebook couldn't agree more.

"Finally an American man took a stand against our tyrannical government that no longer follows the Constitution," wrote Emily Walters of Louisville, Ky.

Photo: Echelon Buidling in Austin, Texas Feb. 18, 2010.

PICTURES: Austin Plane Crash

According to The New York Daily News, Walters was one of the many people on the social networking circuit who founded Joe Stack fan pages to honor the kamikaze pilot.

People were also sounding off via Twitter.

"Joe Stack, you are a true American Hero and we need more of you to make a stand," tweeted Greg Lenihan of San Diego, according to the paper.

Stack took off from an airport in Georgetown, about 30 miles from Austin, and flew low over the Austin skyline before plowing into the side of the Echelon 1 office building just before 10 a.m. Flames shot from the building, windows exploded and terrified workers rushed to get out.

At least one IRS worker was killed, according to authorities. Thirteen people were injured, two of them critically. Stack also perished.

"His sacrifice was for all of us," wrote Texan Tyler Britten on Facebook, according to the paper.

Facebook has since deleted the "Joe Stack" fan page, but others seem sure to follow.

MEDIA
PICTURES: Joe Stack
PICTURES: Austin Plane Crash

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
February 18, 2010 - Joe Stack Bomb Threat Called Off, FBI Clears Georgetown Airport After Austin Crash
February 18, 2010 - Joe Stack: Plane Crasher Talked Politics But "No Obsession," Says Woman Who Knew Him Through Band
February 18, 2010 - Joe Stack Bomb Threat: FBI Searching Georgetown Airport for Car Bomb after Austin Plane Crash
February 18, 2010 - Joe Stack Pictures: First Photos of Alleged Austin IRS Plane Crasher
February 18, 2010 - Joe Stack Suicide Note Full Text: "American Zombies Wake Up and Revolt"
February 18, 2010 - Austin Plane Crash: Joseph Andrew Stack Left Sick Suicide Note for IRS to Take "Pound of Flesh"
February 18, 2010 - Austin Plane Crash: Pilot Joseph Andrew Stack May Have Targeted IRS Offices, Says FBI
February 18, 2010 - Plane Crash Austin: Complex That Houses FBI Office on Fire


Add a Comment See all 70 Comments
by namesunavailable February 23, 2010 8:35 PM EST
@fuji79... I am sorry for directly calling you an idiot, that was childish of me and I apologize.
Reply to this comment
by namesunavailable February 23, 2010 7:25 PM EST
I am NOT a conservative, nor am I a radical. I live in southern california. I am a dance music dj and an artist. I smoke pot... I believe in a womens right to choose. I am for gay rights and gay marriage. Having said that, I feel Joe Stack is a hero. There are tons of documentaries documenting the thievery that is the I.R.S. People that say he is just a murderer and try to say only white supremacist and the radical right are behind him. Bull*hit!!...do you people know what we call you?...CATTLE!! You are all CATTLE!!! You go through your lives saying "o'well, I guess this is how it is" you just fall in line and do whatever they say. THERE IS NO LAW STATING THAT ONE HAS TO PAY INCOME TAX!!! Go online "a virtual library" and educate yourself. Look up documentaries that discuss this very topic. He wasn't a wacko you freaking idiots. He was a man pushed to the edge. Just go back to your reality T.V. and 9 to 5, and DO YOUR JOB!!!....CATTLE!!!! For he's a jolly good fellow...for he's a jolly good fellow....for he's a jolly good felloooow, that no intelligent person can deny....

@fuji79...I mean cattle. Have you ever gone toe to toe with the federal government? I didn't think so...your powerless against them...idiot. He did go toe to toe with them...for a long time.

@ddaryl1...."Just doing there job" god I hate this phrase...they chose the job. They made there bed, and they can lie in it. They are the minions of the I.R.S. If it weren't for weak people who will do anything for a dollar, then there would be no one to do their dirty work. That also applies to jobs like parking enforcement, amongst other occupations.
Reply to this comment
by RocheteauR February 23, 2010 12:20 PM EST
It is a sham that Americans are driven to such desperate measures by an instrumentality of their own government. The IRS should have been disbanded at the end of WWII, and former IRS agents should be prohibited from working for federal, state, county and local governments.
Reply to this comment
by MadderThanHell February 22, 2010 8:58 PM EST
I've been saying for quite a while "Abolish the IRS"! Not "Demolish the IRS"! The Federal Government sucks! The Federal Government has created an economic totalitarian state! The IRS is a rough economic equivalent to the Nazi SS.

It's easy to understand Joe Stack's frustration! Like I said "Abolish the IRS"!
Reply to this comment
by fuji79 February 22, 2010 12:40 AM EST
A hero? You think this man is a hero? This man created HIS OWN LIFE ISSUES and then BLAMED them on others. He is not even a MAN ... if he were, he would not have left his wife and child homeless, alone and afraid. He would not have left them alone to face the world, forever questioning what and why their husband and father left them in this way. A husband, father and a son does not destroy his entirei family simply because he has issues with the IRS. Why harm or kill people who have nothing to do with it? His problems started in California, not in Austin, Texas ... why take it out on people in Austin? Simple, he wasn't man enough to take on the big boys at the IRS in D.C., so that makes him a coward. A man faces his enemy, he doesn't fly a plane into a building ... he walks in like a man and he faces them, toe to toe, looking them in the eye. A COWARD. A lost, bitter man filled with hatred is not a HERO ... he is just a miserable wart on the face of the world. How DARE anyone label him a HERO in the same breath as a WWI, WWII, Korean, Disabled or Viet Nam Veteran? Those men and women are HEROES, NOT stack. stack IS A DOMESTIC TERRORIST, THAT IS ALL HE IS AND WILL EVER BE!!!
Reply to this comment
by MadderThanHell February 22, 2010 9:05 PM EST
"Domestic terrorist"?
by ellieaire February 21, 2010 1:13 PM EST
Joe Stack is a hero to many, he did what many people dream of doing and no doubt there will be many to follow in his foot steps.

Someone commented that no one will be at the Austin IRS office to answer questions. Use TurboTax to get your answers, and you won't have to talk to anyone who does not know the IRS tax code at the IRS or get misinformation.

There will be a Revolution in this country (it's already taking place). Unemployment, welfare, crime, will increase and people better get ready to protect yourself from a government that has violated every human right. From being spyed on with lap top computers, listening in on phone conversations, deleting facebook pages, cameras on every street light, the list goes on. Wake up America!
Reply to this comment
by TruthBhad February 21, 2010 4:36 AM EST
"> "True American Heroes" do not murder people.

The founding fathers did. "

As a matter of fact the founding fathers, and looking at what they did do, were "Domestic Terrorists"... They didn't like England's taxation, they didn't like England's gun control, and they certainly did not like the home envasions.
Reply to this comment
by TruthBhad February 21, 2010 4:22 AM EST
"Facebook has since deleted the "Joe Stack" fan page, but others seem sure to follow."

Facebook is actually violating people's 1st amendment rights.

HUSTLER MAGAZINE v. FALWELL, 485 U.S. 46 (1988) "At the heart of the First Amendment is the recognition of the fundamental importance of the free flow of ideas and opinions on matters of public interest and concern.....Debate on public issues will not be uninhibited if the speaker must run the risk that it will be proved in court that he spoke out of hatred; even if he did speak out of hatred, utterances honestly believed contribute to the free interchange of ideas and the ascertainment of truth."

..and ya the 1st amendment applies by and between private parties so don't say it doesn't else I'll post the case law on that too..

..and yes to forums like Facebook..

More specifically... to forums like Facebook: Global Telemedia International, Inc. v. Doe 1; 132 F.Supp.2d 1261 Bidbay.com v. Spry, No. B160126, 2003, Cal. App. Unpub. Lexis 2057

Considering that the internet provides "the most participatory form of mass speech yet developed," Reno, 929 F.Supp. at 883, it is not surprising that courts have uniformly held or, deeming the proposition obvious, simply assumed that internet venues to which members of the public have relatively easy access constitute a "public forum" or a place "open to the public" [such as Facebook] within the meaning of section 425.16. Barrett, 9 Cal.Rptr.3d at 149 (2004) (citing ComputerXpress, Inc., 93 Cal.App.4th at 1007, 113 Cal.Rptr.2d 625;Global Telemedia Intern., Inc. v. Doe, 132 F. Supp.2d 1261, 1264 (C.D.Cal.2001); Nicosia v. DeRooy, 72 F.Supp.2d 1093 (N.D. Cal.1999)).


New.net, Inc. v. Lavasoft. 356 F.Supp.2d 1090 (C.D.Cal. 2004) Cases construing the term "public forum" as used in section 425.16 have noted that the term is "traditionally defined as a place that is open to the public where information is freely exchanged." ComputerXpress, Inc., 93 Cal.App.4th at 1006, 113 Cal.Rptr.2d 625 (quoting Damon v. Ocean Hills Journalism Club, 85 Cal.App.4th 468, 475, 102 Cal. Rptr.2d 205 (2000)). "Under its plain meaning, a public forum is not limited to a physical setting, but also includes other forms of public communication such as electronic communication media like the internet." ComputerXpress, Inc., 93 Cal. App.4th at 1006, 113 Cal.Rptr.2d 625 (citing Hatch v. Superior Court, 80 Cal.App.4th 170, 79 Cal.App.4th 663, 94 Cal.Rptr.2d 453 (2000)) (noting, although not in the context of section 425.16, that internet communications have been described as "classical forum communications")
Reply to this comment
by groutdr February 20, 2010 9:09 PM EST
Its So Sad How Aggressive People Get & their Mannors In Which people Speak & How Arrigant !! Please People are making a statement In Which we were stating How the govenment are driving people over the edge Thats Why we are in a recession Right Now & getting Worst
Reply to this comment
by gbresnahan February 20, 2010 8:38 PM EST
But my question is why didn't the building collapse like WTC did?
Reply to this comment
by MadderThanHell February 22, 2010 9:01 PM EST
Duh....
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