The Internal Revenue Service is frequently a target of threats . Examples include the case of '' U.S. v. Darby '' , in which the defendant told the IRS he was tired of their bullshit , asked how they would like to have a pipe bomb delivered to their place of employment , and said that he did n't eat his victims like Jeffrey Dahmer but just killed them by blowing them up ; David J. D'Addabbo , who sent a petition to IRS workers warning that they would be " tried by a jury and your penalty will be sought for it to be death by firing squad " and told the arresting agents to " watch your back " ; and John Barker , who perpetrated an anthrax hoax against the IRS . According to the U.S. Treasury Department 's Inspector General for Tax Administration , threats against the IRS have been rising in recent years , and in 2009 rose from 834 to 1,014 per year , an increase of 21.5 % over the prior year . There have been incidents of actual violence against the IRS to take place as well , by people ramming cars into IRS offices , setting them on fire , and taking out hits on IRS employees , although the 2010 Austin plane crash was one of the more high-profile incidents . According to a Cato Institute commentator , " this trend is likely to continue until there is a fundamental change in our tax laws and collection methods . People who do not have access to the media and can not afford expensive tax lawyers sometimes reach such a level of frustration with the IRS that they resort to violent or irrational behavior . " There is a special statute , , that protects IRS employees from threats , which according to the U.S. Attorneys ' Manual , " provides a particularly helpful alternative in cases where there is simply an offer of violence unaccompanied by the potential for imminent use of physical force . " Federal law enforcement agencies are often the target of threats . Examples include Jeff Henry Williamson , who threatened to blow up FBI headquarters , CIA headquarters and the Justice Department ; and Micha Godfrey , who allegedly emailed medical cannabis websites threats against DEA agents and their families , and a search of whose house subsequently turned up four firearms , a bulletproof vest , and cannabis plants . Government agencies are sometimes the subject of blackmail attempts , as when an informer threatened to falsely accuse the FBI of knowing in advance that the World Trade Center would be bombed and of failing to stop it
bombed
September 11 attacks
Threatening government officials of the United States