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Fact check: Pictures show IRS interactive college simulation, not training of agents

Hannah Hudnall   | Paste BN

The claim: Pictures shows IRS agent training 

President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law on Aug. 16. One of the law's aims is to increase enforcement by the Internal Revenue Service. 

Many social media users have falsely claimed the law will enable the IRS to hire "87,000 armed agents," which various independent fact-checkers have debunked, since only a small portion of the new hires will be enforcement agents that carry guns.

Now, social media users are sharing photos and videos they say show incoming IRS agents. 

One Aug. 17 Facebook post features several pictures of people in blue vests holding guns. The vests say, "IRS-CID POLICE."

"The new IRS training seems legit," says the post's caption. "What’s homeboy in the wheelchair going to do? Yes this is real."

The post garnered more than 500 shares in its first five days. Similar viral posts have been shared on Facebook on Twitter.

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But, the pictures do not show a real IRS training program. They were captured during a daylong simulation called the Adrian Project that allows college students to become special crime investigators for a day.

Paste BN reached out to the users who shared the claim for comment.

Pictures shows college simulation

The photos were taken at Stockton University in New Jersey at events in 2017 and this year, said Stacey Clapp, a Stockton University spokesperson.

One of the photos was shared on Flickr by Stockton University on March 11 as part of an album titled, "Adrian Project 2022." Two of the other photos were shared by the university on Flickr on Oct. 27, 2017, as part of an album titled, "Project Adrian: IRS Criminal Investigation Department Visits Stockton."

The Adrian Project, created by the IRS, is a daylong simulation of a mock criminal investigation. It's brought to college campuses across the country and allows students to get a firsthand look at "what it's like for IRS special agents to carry out an investigation, tracking illicit money from the crime to the criminal," according to the IRS website.

Stockton University published a press release on its website on Oct. 30, 2017, detailing its students' experiences in the program.

"The students reviewed bank statements, invoices and tax returns, but also surveilled and interrogated witnesses, and requested arrest and search warrants," the release says. 

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that pictures show real IRS agent training. The pictures were captured during a daylong simulation run by the IRS, part of a program presented at colleges and universities around the country.

Our fact-check sources:

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