Reason: Did you ever feel that the confrontation with the government was the fulfillment of prophecies?
Thibodeau: All the time. I’ll give you an example. We were tearing down the small houses, in preparation of building up the big house. I was up on the roof and David said, "What are you people going to do when the tanks are surrounding this building? When there are hundreds of agents out there. When the people of Babylon come to get us? What are you going to do then? Are you going to believe this truth?" I said, "David, this is America, they’re not going to bring tanks on this property. I don’t care what happens. They’re not going to bring tanks out here." A few months later I was looking out the door and there are tanks on the property destroying everything we own.
Reason: At this point did you already know you were under surveillance?
Thibodeau: No, this was before that.
Reason: Why do you think he would say this?
Thibodeau: I think he would say this because scripturally he believed his message would be fought against because, in Psalms 2 it says, "The rulers take counsel against the lord and against his anointed." Koresh believed he was God’s anointed. He also believed because of that and other scriptures the world would take counsel and come in and try to destroy him.
The psychologists knew this. That’s why they told the FBI to pull back. Don’t make his apocalypse come to pass.
Reason: What was daily life like during the siege? How was the moral, the mood? What were people thinking? At one point in your book, you mention that you had a celebration with whiskey.
Thibodeau: That came out of guilt. When you are attacked and you are terrified and any minute you think you are going to die. That does something to you. You need some kind of release. My release was I had a very vivid sexual dream. And that point I hadn’t thought about sex for quite some time. I had been pretty good at curbing my appetite. I’m a pretty randy guy. I never wanted to give up that.
Reason: Does it really clear up your mind not to have sex for two years?
Thibodeau: Yeah it does. After three months it’s not as hard as you think. I got a lot done. I got a lot of reading done. I started to really expand the aspects of my mind because I wasn’t thinking about sex all the time
Reason: Your favorite thing was taken off the table?
Thibodeau: Yeah. I thought about sex all the time. When I was in high school I never did any work. I just looked at the girls. I had a problem when I was a kid. I mean, [laughter], it was drums and the pursuit of girls. I was too big to get girls. That’s why I became a very good drummer [laughter].
Reason: Why didn’t you leave during the siege?
Thibodeau: I never wanted to. I don’t know if I even know why. I felt safe there. Even though authorities surrounded us, for the first time in my life I knew that the path for which I had always quested was on the verge of fulfillment. I believe that 100 percent. If that meant dying, I was prepared. If that meant being wounded or going to jail, I would have done it. I would have gone to jail with pride, because I would have been there for God. I would have done it for my beliefs.
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