On Feb. 18, 2010, Andrehw Joseph Stack III, a software consultant from Austin Texas, flew his Piper Dakota into a building in the Echelon office complex in Austin Texas, killing himself and Vernon Hunter, a 67-year-old Internal Revenue Service officer who was also a veteran of the Vietnam War.
After the attack, it was discovered that Stack had posted a suicide note on the website embeddedart.com, a rambling note that reveals he was disgruntled with the IRS. Many have publically applauded his action, calling him a hero. During an interview on ABC’s Good Morning America, Stack’s adult daughter Samantha Bell said her father was a hero because he has called attention to “government injustice.”
The question that many are asking is whether Joseph Stack is a hero or terrorist?
Stack has also found supporters on the internet including a facebook page that was set up by supporters, which at one point had two thousand members. He has also found allies in people who believe Americans are being taxed too much by the government though mostly the fringe parts of that movement.
There are those who are greatly angered by the actions of Joseph Stack, especially the family of his victim. Five days after her husband’s death, Valerie Hunter filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Andrew Joseph Stack’s widow Sheryl Mann Stack, The lawsuit alleges that Sheryl had a duty to “avoid a foreseeable risk of injury to others,” including her late husband and failed to do so by not warning others about him.
In my opinion Joseph Stack is not a hero; there is little difference between himself and terrorists like the 9/11 hijackers and Timothy McVeigh. When someone commits these kinds of crimes, there are many motives. Some are political while others are religious, and sometimes both. The main goals of an act of terrorism are to cause mass casualties or make people fearful.
Many times terrorists will try to shield their actions behind a cause that may get them support such as with the 9/11 attacks. Osama Bin Laden tried to use the Middle East conflict in hopes of gaining support.
In his six page manifesto Stack expressed anger toward the government, the bailouts of car companies and banks. He also expressed anger toward General Motors Enron, unions, healthcare insurance companies, and the Catholic Church. It also expressed anger towards the FAA and the Bush administration and called for a violent revolt.
When someone takes actions like those of Stack to make a political point it does damage to those who may have legitimate issues and want to make changes in a specific area, whether it involves Mideast policies or taxes. In fact, someone who opposes legitimate groups that seek changes in those kind of areas can use such actions to make those involved in the movement seem like criminals or insane.
Some in politics have tried to use the actions of Stack to discredit the Tea party movement, though most involved in the movement have come out very vocally against his actions.
Those who have problems with the government must seek to make changes the right way, not through acts of violence.
