Anti-IRS Rant of Software Engineer who Today Flew Plane into IRS Building

Post by robotblake » Fri, Feb 19, 2010, 12:52 AM UTC

grandalf wrote: post #138

danieldon wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's terrorism because it's directly in line with 18 USC 2331: (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 cond…

By clause A someone speeding on the highway could be considered a terrorist. By clause B a person who writes his congressman and threatens not to vote/donate in the next election cycle is a terrorist (threat/coercion). If the key is intent, then a poet who writes an anti-government poem is a terrorist.

  if a and (b1 or b2 or b3) and c
    terrorist = true
  end

Post by dmm » Fri, Feb 19, 2010, 1:06 AM UTC

lallysingh wrote: post #57

blackguardx wrote: post #16

The Department of Homeland Security released a statement calling this a criminal act, not terrorism. I am confused. A few years ago everything was considered terrorism and now nothing is. This guy wasn't targeting individual people in the IRS, he was targeting the whole establishment. This is akin to the Oklahoma City bombing. If that was a terrorist incident and 9/11 was a terrorist incident, this is too. He even ha…

The FBI's definition of terrorism: The unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a Government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. He was angry and violent, but he didn't have any objective he was trying to achieve through the act. The objective in terrorism isn't the violence, it's a means to an intended end (s…

Post by robotblake » Fri, Feb 19, 2010, 1:08 AM UTC

dmm wrote: post #142

danieldon wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's absolutely a terrorist according to 18 USC 2331: (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…

I don't see how me meant to coerce civilians.

Post by sethg » Fri, Feb 19, 2010, 1:27 AM UTC

javert wrote: post #104

wheels wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You, sir, have obviously failed to memo that in this post-9/11-world, only brown people are terrorists. Here's a key, in case it gets confusing again: - Guy in an airport with a Koran and an accent: terrorist. - White software developer who flies a plane into buildings for ideological reasons: not terrorist.

Actually, this guy's goal was not to incite terror, hence not a terrorist. I'm not necessarily defending the way the government labels different crimes, though. AFAIK the Unibomber was pretty much like this guy.

Post by ninjac0der » Fri, Feb 19, 2010, 1:49 AM UTC