Vietnam Vet Vernon Hunter Killed In Austin IRS Attack

10:17 am EST February 22nd, 2010 | Terrorism | 73 Comments

It was terrorism.

The Internal Revenue Service employee killed when a disgruntled engineer flew a plane into an agency building in Austin, Texas last week. Vernon Hunter, a Vietnam veteran, and a father of six children, worked for the IRS for 27 employees, rising to a managerial position, and his wife, Valerie, works for the agency as well.

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73 Responses to “Vietnam Vet Vernon Hunter Killed In Austin IRS Attack”

  1. Repack Rider says:

    Of course it was terrorism. If Stack had wanted to commit suicide, he didn’t need to try to kill other people.

    Unfortunately the GOP does not agree that White people are capable of committing acts of terrorism.

    Dennis? Farris? Bueller? Anyone?

  2. Dennis says:

    Unfortunately the GOP does not agree that White people are capable of committing acts of terrorism.

    Dennis? Farris? Bueller? Anyone?

    No, Repack, that isn’t true. Your former neighbor, John Walker Lindh, son of liberal parents and a confessed America-hater, was a terrorist and he was white.

    Didn’t you and he go to the same high school? Maybe you could shed some light on that and let us know just what it was about his upbringing in your fair, far-left SF values city that made him go down that path.

  3. bikelib says:

    So, once again, are you conceding that Stack fits the definition of terrorist? Yes or no?

  4. Jaim says:

    CPAC-ers got a good laugh out of this guy’s death.

    Fuck the GOP. Human scum.

  5. Jody says:

    He is not.

    In his twisted worldview, it’s not terror if it’s someone he sympathizes with. He calls those people ‘patriots’.

    Further, to his malfunctioning brain, white terrorists can only be liberals.

  6. jr says:

    “FORT JACKSON!”-Matt Drudge

  7. Sarah says:

    Amen to that!

  8. Dennis says:

    FU, Jody, I don’t give a shit what you call this guy and and I sure as shit don’t sympathize with him in the least.

  9. White Whale says:

    You don’t want to pay taxes? Fine by me but you forfiet your citizenship and must be deported immediately. Go build(or try in vain) your conservative/liberatarian utopia elsewhere.

  10. bikelib says:

    Is he a terrorist? Yes or no?

  11. Fafaroo says:

    I guess we can add that to the list of direct questions Dennis refuses to answer.

    Are you really that afraid of what Amused Observer will think of you, Dennis?

  12. SaveFarris says:

    It’s not as cut-and-dried. To me, a big piece of the definition of “terrorism” is the intentional targeting of civilians, which didn’t happen here. Criminal, yes. But terrorist?

    (Yes, yes: my definition also puts the Ft. Hood shooter in a similar gray area.)

  13. Jody says:

    Indeed. Because a guy slamming a plane into a large government building could not possibly have considered that there’d be innocents in said building as well.

    Innocent people never enter large government buildings. Especially not in populated areas. Besides, the guy killed was black, and the guy flying the plane was a right winger. So you see, it’s complicated.

  14. Jody says:

    His responses were “John Walker Lindh was a terrorist” and “fuck you”.

    So no. He doesn’t think it was terrorism.

  15. mambochicken23 says:

    Can someone explain to me why the resident wingnuts are so reluctant to call this a terrorist act? I’m at a loss.

  16. Dennis says:

    I haven’t seen anything that makes him a terrorist and the fact this guy that was killed is a VietNam vet doesn’t necessarily make him one, either.

    If you want to call him one even though your motivation is based primarily on the color of his skin, fafaroo, you and bikelib and Oliver and RePack and Jody and anyone else inclined to do so can be my guest.

  17. mambochicken23 says:

    I haven’t seen anything that makes him a terrorist

    Intentionally flying a plane into a building with innocent people in it doesn’t count?

    What?

    What the fuck?

  18. Parthenon says:

    His name didn’t originate from the middle east? That’s all I got.

  19. Jody says:

    Of course not. He was a right winger and the guy killed was black. Ergo, not terrorism.

  20. Dennis says:

    Would you explain to me why left-wing loons Thursday were chomping at the bit to call this guy a “tea-bagger”, springchicken23?

  21. Dennis says:

    Don’t know about you, but the name ‘John Walker Lindh’ sounded a lot like baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet to me, Parthy.

  22. Burn says:

    Because right before the plane hit, he yelled “Fuck the IRS” instead of “Allah Akbar”.

  23. Jody says:

    First things first. Why isn’t he a terrorist?

  24. Dennis says:

    I didn’t know he was black, and even Oliver doesn’t mention that in his commentary.

    Why are you obsessed with skin color here, Jody? Did you think he was aiming his plane at a black man, that his intent was to kill a black Vietnam veteran?

  25. mambochicken23 says:

    I can’t speak for them. I’m not really that interested in putting a political branding on him. Seems like all people are interested in doing is labeling others, all the time, just to make the other side look bad. Sometimes it is not as simple as that. I am pretty sure that rightwingers were trying to pin this guy as a liberal as well – it’s not all us, man.

    You want to answer my question now?

  26. Jody says:

    Why can’t you call a guy slamming a plane into a federal building-who was CLEARLY heedless of collateral damage-a terrorist?

  27. Dennis says:

    What is it about you that makes you think Joe Stack was a right-winger besides your far left-wing blindness, Jody?

    You’re a sick-minded person, you know that?

  28. fafaroo says:

    Dennis, my reason for calling the guy a terrorist is based entirely on his actions: He flew a plane into a building because he hated the American government.

    That’s an act of terrorism.

  29. Jody says:

    Not so sick that I can’t call a dude that slams planes into federal buildings a terrorist because I might agree with his ideology.

  30. justadood says:

    Or Timothy McVeigh or Eric Rudolph….

    2 other guys who were fed up with the Status Quo and decided to do something about it. I wonder why they’re termed Terrorists while Stack isn’t? Motivation is similar in nature, if not in specific detail.. MO isn’t all that different from the 9/11 boys, save only he didn’t take an airliner, just a topped-off small aircraft..

    IMO, Stack’s action was terrorism, pure and simple–He sought to effect change through violence or intimidation…textbook examples of Terrorism.

  31. Jody says:

    He can’t call it one because he doesn’t think white people attacking federal buildings is terrorism.

  32. Leota2 says:

    I don’t care if this guy was so far to the left he dug up Emma Goldman’s body and kissed her ass.
    I don’t care if he was so far to the right he did the same and dug up Irving Kristol.

    He’s a terrorist.

    I don’t give a good goddamned what color he is, what religion he might have been or the whining reason the man gave to kill himself and take an innocent man with him; forever scarring an entire city.
    HE FLEW A PLANE INTO AN OCCUPIED BUILDING AS A WAY TO MAKE A STATEMENT AGAINST A GOVERNMENT ENTITY .

    He is a terrorist no matter what kind of idiocy, partisanship, or excuses anyone makes for him.
    Parsing semantics and further discussion of terrorist or no is simply ridiculous. But I’m sure there
    are some who will continue in that vein. I sure as hell won’t.

  33. fafaroo says:

    Save, by that definition Bill Ayers isn’t a terrorist either since Ayers and other members of The Weather Underground have said their aim was to destroy federal property without targeting workers or civilians:

    In his 2001 book about his Weatherman experiences, Bill Ayers stated his objection to describing the WUO (Weather Underground Organization) as “terrorist.” Ayers wrote: “Terrorists terrorize, they kill innocent civilians, while we organized and agitated. Terrorists destroy randomly, while our actions bore, we hoped, the precise stamp of a cut diamond. Terrorists intimidate, while we aimed only to educate. No, we’re not terrorists.”[110] Dan Berger, in his book about the Weatherman, “Outlaws in America,” comments that the group “purposefully and successfully avoided injuring anyone… Its war against property by definition means that the WUO was not a terrorist organization.”[111]

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_Underground_%28organization%29

    I take it then that you agree The Weather Underground was not a terrorist organization then?

  34. Dennis says:

    Not so sick that I can’t call a dude that slams planes into federal buildings a terrorist because I might agree with his ideology.

    What makes you think I might agree with his ideology, Jody. I haven’t read any of his meandering thoughts that I agree with. Nothing about this guy or his life is anything I’d agree with.

    This is why you’re a asick puppy:

    Besides, the guy killed was black, and the guy flying the plane was a right winger. So you see, it’s complicated.

    You have no fucking idea what you’re talking about. He’s not a right-winger despite what you’re favorite left-wing blogger or journalist thought at any one time; and no one is going to base their opinion on the guy killed as not being tragic either because he was a VietNam veteran or the color of his skin. It’s foolish of you to make that allegation, it’s wrong, and you’re a sick person to do it.

  35. Jody says:

    Explain how slamming a plane into a federal building to make a political statement was not terrorism.

    If you can do that, I’ll admit that I’m sick.

    Or, more likely, keep trying to distract from that original point. And in doing so, reveal your own sickness.

  36. Dennis says:

    I don’t have a problem with you calling it an act of terrorism, fafaroo. Gibbs said it doesn’t appear to be an act of terrorism and this article says it remains to be determined:

    There will be a lot of time to debate whether this was an act of terrorism or a simple crime, whether Joe Stack was simply a deranged individual or a representative of a larger anti-government movement.

    What I said is the fact that one of the guy’s killed was a VietNam veteran doesn’t change the equation whether it was terrorism or not. Nor does the color of his skin, which I didn’t know before Jody so graciously informed me, have one iota of effect on my opinion on whether it is terrorism or not.

  37. Dennis says:

    How you or I or anyone else determines how an act of terrorism is defined and whether or not this fits that definition has nothing to do with your entering race into the equation, or whether or not you are sick. You are sick by making this about race.

    You’re the one who opened that can of worms as a distraction, not me.

  38. Jody says:

    And once again we see Dennis hop on the convenient distraction rather than actually address the point. So here we go:

    ter·ror·ism
       /ˈtɛrəˌrɪzəm/ [ter-uh-riz-uhm]
    –noun

    1.the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.

    Now that we have that out of the way, let’s review:

    Dennis refuses to agree that a man who flew into a building on a deliberate murder-suicide mission with the sole intention of making a political statement was a terrorist. One can only speculate why this is the case. Mainly because if you state WHY Dennis might not want this fellow classified as a terrorist, he starts farting off about distractions and how sick you are.

    Okay Dennis, ball’s in your court. Why ISN’T this guy a terrorist, if not because you agree with him?

    And why is my speculation in the face of your reluctance to explain a sickness?

  39. Dennis says:

    You’re sick, Jody, because you commit two major-league errors, 1) you said Joe Stack was a right-winger. That is false. You only think he’s a right-winger because you’re blindness compels you to assume that is the case. and 2) You stated that people don’t think this is terrorism because of the color of Stack’s skin and the unknown until now fact that one of the guys who perished from the crash was black.

    Again, that is what makes you sick. If you have a problem with me not saying for sure that this was terrorism, I suggest you take it up with the guy who wrote the article OW linked to and Joe Gibbs as well. That’s where your blind rage should be directed.

    Now, seeing as how I didn’t say this wasn’t terrorism, what is it about me that causes you to direct your anger at me? Is it because I am white? Or is it because you think I’m a right-winger? I’m pretty much in agreement with Gibbs and the author of the of article OW linked to, and both those people reach a lot more people than I do.

  40. Jody says:

    I know I’m not going to get an answer at this point, unless you qualify more declarations of “You’re sick!!!!one!!!” as an answer, but I’ll try again.

    I’m only speculating because you won’t acknowledge that he committed an act of terrorism even when confronted with the textbook definition of terrorism. So. Why is my speculation in the face of your reluctance to explain a sickness? I’m not talking with the fellow that wrote the article. I’m talking with you. Why isn’t he a terrorist?

    Of course, I’m not expecting a consistent answer. I’ve got Dennis doubting his own political affiliation at this point. Because apparently I only ‘think’ he’s a right winger.

    Hell. I just gave him another distraction to latch on to, instead of addressing the original question. Expect a nice little diatribe about how sick I am for speculating about Dennis’ political affiliations.

  41. John Sullivan says:

    Prof. Mambo, I hate to say this, but I agree with you 100% on this one. For once, can both sides stop trying to pin something on the other?

  42. mambochicken23 says:

    I take it that the answer is no.

  43. John Sullivan says:

    Pretty pathetic, isn’t it, that people are trying to use a tragedy like this to further their agenda, don’t you think?

  44. elspi says:

    What terrorist act did John Walker Lindh commit again?
    Who exactly did he kill or attempt to kill?

    Does joining an organization which is associated with terrorism, make you a terrorist?
    If that is so, then all the members of the Michigan militia and most of the teabaggers are terrorists.

  45. mambochicken23 says:

    It is weird for me to be agreeing with you.

  46. timmy says:

    crazy ideologue
    airplane
    crash building
    fire
    death
    white male teabagger
    ————
    Not a terrorist.*

    *from Teabaggery For For Dummies

  47. John Sullivan says:

    Well then, Professor, maybe I can get you to agree on one more thing then. Maybe we can get all of the people on here, on both sides, to stop flapping their lips on this topic and maybe just say a prayer or two for the families of both of these poor people. They are the ones left picking up the pieces of this mess.

  48. timmy says:

    Sarah Palin
    self entitlement
    John McCain
    islamobama
    “you betcha”
    idiot
    ————
    Model conservative.*

    *from Teabaggery For For Dummies

  49. mambochicken23 says:

    I agree with your sentiment, if not the execution, (i.e., “prayer”).

    I also do think that both sides of the aisle should be able to see fit to call this man a terrorist. Do you agree?

  50. Dennis says:

    Self- entitlement, ha!

    You got the that one mixed up, timmy. That one goes to the side of the douche-baggers who call other people tea-baggers; the far-left loons.

  51. mambochicken23 says:

    douche-baggers

    Misogynist!!!

    And not funny, to boot.

  52. locus says:

    Um…Dennis.

    You understand that the tea-bag movement asked to be called that name. They gave it to themselves.

    Of course, the fact that it’s a double-entendre for a sex act only makes it funnier.

  53. Dennis says:

    For the thousandth time, yes, locus, I’m well aware of that. That’s exactly what makes guys like timmy who use that term douchebags; because they think the reference to the sex act is so funny, even still now. It’s sad. Like he’s Beavis or Butthead and they just heard the teacher say the word ‘sphincter’ and they sit there and chuckle about the word. You’d think you guys would grow up about the term one of these days- especially when you hear guys like Obama, Schumer and Kerry make the reference…these are the guys for whom you announce that the adults are in charge now.

  54. fafaroo says:

    Pretty pathetic, isn’t it, that people are trying to use a tragedy like this to further their agenda, don’t you think?

    I agree, except to add that it’s even worse than someone flying a plane into a building to further their agenda.

  55. fafaroo says:

    Like he’s Beavis or Butthead and they just heard the teacher say the word ’sphincter’ and they sit there and chuckle about the word.

    Now it makes sense. Dennis, you really have no idea what the joke is. Not even the slightest clue. It isn’t like Beavis and Butthead laughing at the use of a word as it was meant to be used.

    It’s about laughing at the irony of an ostensibly conservative group naming their highly principled movement after a sexual act. It’s the irony, dude.

    Sort of like a Christian gardening club naming itself The Daisy Chainers:
    http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=daisy+chain

    It’s the irony.

  56. mambochicken23 says:

    Dennis does not understand irony. Or much of anything, for that matter.

  57. Quaker in a Basement says:

    OK, so we’re at “Lindh was a terrorist, Stack…well, uh….um…”

  58. john sullivan says:

    Well you have your beliefs in regards to prayer I have mine. That’s for everyone to decide for themselves. As far as terrorism, I don’t think anyone but the man involved in the act can answer that, so I’m not going to comment on it one way or another

  59. timmy says:

    ‘Cause she’s playing all night,
    and timmy teabags all right.
    Sarah’s gettin teabagged,
    Dennis never sleeps at night!

  60. Duros62 says:

    Intentionally flying a plane into a building with innocent people in it doesn’t count?

    What?

    Ergo, 9/11 wasn’t terrorism either, right?

  61. Duros62 says:

    Ergo, Major Hassan wasn’t a terrorist either, right?

    Schmidt?

  62. Duros62 says:

    To me, a big piece of the definition of “terrorism” is the intentional targeting of civilians, which didn’t happen here

    Are you frikkin’ shitting me?

  63. Duros62 says:

    Mogadishu is nice this time of year. And the tax rates are to DIE for.

  64. Duros62 says:

    Irony is something his mom does when his shirts are wrinkly.

  65. Duros62 says:

    Answer the fucking question for once.
    here, I’ll make it easy for you.

    Beltway sniper= terrorist? yes or no.
    Mohammed Atta = terrorsit? yes or no.
    Major Hassan = terrorist? yes or no.

    John Stack = ???

    We know how you feel about John Walker Lindh, probably the only person on this list that never actually killed anyone.

    Schmidt?

  66. Quaker in a Basement says:

    Would you explain to me why left-wing loons Thursday were chomping at the bit to call this guy a “tea-bagger”, springchicken23?

    Maybe because conservatives are so eager to make him out to be a hero?

  67. Ol'Froth says:

    Here’s the Federal government’s definition of a domestic terrorist.

    `(5) the term `domestic terrorism’ means activities that–

    `(A) involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State;

    `(B) appear to be intended–

    `(i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

    `(ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or

    `(iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and

    `(C) occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States.’.

    Stack fits criteria A, Bii, Biii, and C. By our government’s definition, Stack was a domestic terrorist. His ideology is irrelevent.

  68. Dennis says:

    It’s going on a year now that you guys are remarking on the irony of something, fafaroo. Most people who remark on the irony of something state it and let it sink in, then move on. You guys keep on with the immaturity of stating a sex act not well known among people over the age of 30-35. The point of it being about irony should’ve expired about a year ago, but it didn’t, and it won’t. It’s not really about irony at all, it’s about douchebags being douchebags. It really is more about you guys being Beavis and Buttheads for way too long now for it to be excusable and using a term that has a double meaning with one meaning being a somewhat out of the mainstream sex act- which just happens to be the one you’re perversely alluding to.

  69. mambochicken23 says:

    Who died and made you the arbiter of these issues? I think it’s hilarious that you think you get to decide how long we make fun of teabaggers for being such delicious idiots that they named their pious movement after a sex act.

    douchebags

    MISOGYNIST!

  70. mambochicken23 says:

    Dead wrong, John. Dead fucking wrong. By your logic, the 9/11 hijackers aren’t terrorists (or at least, cannot be defined as such). You think they thought of themselves as “terrorists”? Hell, no.

    So give it up already: Was Joe Stack a terrorist?

  71. Makeba says:

    if one ones to commit suicide, does he have to wait to do it using a plane?
    he he use ropes to hang, sleeping pills or even a kitchen knife! that was pure terrorist!

  72. Gary Dubois says:

    I am very sorry that your husband was killed MRs. Hunter. I said in my replay to what Stack did, that some say. A college professor I had once said; “One mans terrorist is another mans Freedom fighter”, and that some would see, Stack as a hero. As for me speaking as one Disabled Veteran to you. I think Mr. Stack was a coward, he was not a coward. He was a weak and lost soul, and what he did was wrong. He also left his wife out on the street where no where to go. She is also a victim of his insanity. I deeply regret your loss and pray for you and your family. I often feel we are blessed when we can forgive those who did the worst things to us.

  73. ken says:

    It seems the IRS fits some of these also.such as bi,bii,and c