IRS Employee Killed in Texas Identified

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 years, rising to a managerial position, and his wife, Valerie, works for the agency as well. 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. But for now it seems appropriate to simply send condolences to Hunter's family. Office of Personnel Management Director has highlighted the number of civilian federal employees who have died in the line of duty in recent speeches. It's sad to add Hunter to their number.