Facebook Groups Reach New Low In Wake Of Domestic Terrorism

On September 11, 2001, I was walking from my office on Wall Street to the court house at Foley Square when two planes crashed into the World Trade Center.  I was less than a mile from “Ground Zero”.  And today, upon hearing that a person had deliberately crashed a plane into a building, my first thoughts turned to the events of September 11 – to terrorism.

This morning, in an effort to somehow prove some sick twisted point about how he does not like the IRS (or having to pay taxes), Andrew Joseph Stack set fire to his home and then crashed a small plane into a six-story IRS building housing 250 federal workers.  It is hard not to see this for what it is: terrorism.  Specifically, domestic terrorism.

Tonight, several Facebook groups formed in tacit support of Mr. Stack’s actions. They include “Joseph Andrew Stack, we salute thee,” “The Philosophy of Joe Stack,” and “The Joe “Take My Pound Of Flesh” Stack Anti-IRS Fan Page.”

“The Philosophy of Joe Stack” claims to be opposed to the attack itself, offering the copout that “[t]his page is NOT to glorify his actions, but simply to say that after reading his note, we can agree with and sympathise with Joe Stacks’ thoughts.”

“Joseph Andrew Stack, we salute thee” claims to be against violence against other people yet still argues that the attacks were about “prov[ing] a point: ‘We hope that everyone is okay and accounted for. It is our belief that his intention was not to hurt anyone, but to prove a point.’”

“The Joe ‘Take My Pound Of Flesh’ Stack Anti-IRS Fan Page” doesn’t go into any discussion of the morality of the attack, simply claiming that his acts will be distorted: “Welcome to the Joe Stack fan site. Dedicated to a man, frustrated as so many of us are with our corrupt, inept government, sacrificed his life to make a statement. Will history see him as a patriot or terrorist? Depends on who is doing the writing.”

To “The Philosophy of Joe Stack”: You claim not to be glorifying his actions and yet defend those actions. And what thoughts do you sympathize with? That you don’t like having to pay taxes?

To “Joseph Andrew Stack, we salute thee”: One person is still unaccounted for and more than a dozen innocent people were injured. You salute the man responsible. There’s a reason why if you try to burn down a building and someone dies, you are guilty of murder – because it is highly likely that someone may die as a result of your actions. I believe Mr. Stack didn’t give a damn about if people died. The fact that Mr. Stack crashed a plane into an occupied building supports that theory.

To “The Joe ‘Take My Pound Of Flesh’ Stack Anti-IRS Fan Page”: History will put him where he belongs – with Timothy McVeigh, another domestic terrorist.  He is not John Brown; Mr. Stack was a tax cheat with a string of bad luck.

So, to all the Facebook users with Fan pages, I say this:

If you are a fan of Andrew Joseph Stack or what he did or why he did it, congratulations; you’re a fan of domestic terrorism.