PolitiFact: Viral photos do not show an IRS training class – Austin American-Statesman

Ciara O’Rourke, PolitiFact.com  |  Austin American-StatesmanViral Facebook post: Photos show “an IRS agent training class.”PolitiFact’s ruling: FalseHere’s why: You may have seen the online images showing people wearing protective vests and wielding fake handguns.”IRS CID POLICE” say the white letters emblazoned across their vests.”These are actual photos of an IRS agent training class,” one Facebook post said of four such photos. Another post showed a video clip of some of the same people in the photos, describing it as a “new video and photos of agents training.” These kinds of claims were further fueled by U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who tweeted the images and said: “These are not auditions for the next Police Academy sequel. This is an actual IRS recruiting program.”These posts are being shared online amid misinformation about IRS plans to increase its staffing and enforcement. And they were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed.The four photos and video don’t show IRS agents. They show accounting students at Stockton University and the University of Alaska Anchorage. The students are participating in a simulation of a mock criminal investigation, playing the role of IRS criminal investigations special agents. “Accountants don’t typically carry guns,” a 2017 press release from Stockton University says about what it called a “hands-on…
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