Quotes from David Thibodeau

Besides, he felt it was good policy to let some of the locals see where we lived and find out for themselves that we weren't just a bunch of crazies.

I didn't want to be responsible for Alisa; I had a hard enough time being responsible for myself.

But where's it leading you?' he asked. 'To where I have to go,' I replied.

Everything American in me was stunned by the possibility that my own government might wipe us out. Where's Paul Revere when we need him? I thought childishly. Where are the Minute Men who should stand by our side?

Otherwise, everything I'd ever felt about this great country was a crock of shit.

It was clear that being mentally prepared to die was not quite the same as staring death in the face.

With my nose buried in the floorboards, I reflected that, in such situations, there are three kinds of people: those who stand in front of a tank and dare it to run over them, like the guy in Tiananmen Square; those who make brave speeches behind the barricades, like the students in Paris in 1968; and those, like me, who chew dirt.

When we listen to one another, we heal and learn. When we condemn and vilify one another, at best we lose the ability to grow; at worst, people get hurt.

I challenge any American family to think about what they would do if they were invaded by a hostile force. If tanks pulled up outside their house, and there were armed men inside, would they send their kids out? A lot of Americans would fight that to the end.

To all the people that he hurt, I'm not - I can't be an apologist for David Koresh, but I feel for people that have had negative experiences at the hands of David. Let me put it that way. I think about those people, whether I agree with them on every point or not. Everyone has a right to their experience.

No matter what you think of David Koresh or the people that died there, they died for what they believed in. And that's more than I can say for a lot of people.

I was a drummer living in Los Angeles in 1990. I had finished music school and was playing with a band. It wasn't going as well as it should have been.

Guys dropped their families and followed Him... When I read of Christ and the Apostles, I see mind control at work to an extent.

Koresh certainly was guilty of something.

The meek and the humble died at Mt. Carmel. And the strong and the arrogant - the FBI and the ATF - lived.

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.

What greater insult can you give God than to take your own life?

Everyone should be talking to each other to find out why they have the views that they do instead of just getting on Facebook and yelling at each other. Nobody really, really talks. They don't listen.

It's not my job to convince people that Koresh was the final messenger or had this final message.

Mount Carmel was a very monastic place. We lived in another time - an easier time, a better time. We didn't have running water or most modern conveniences. But in a lot of ways, it was a very satisfying life.

I went into Guitar Center, and David Koresh and Steven Schneider were looking at a drum set, and they asked me to play it. They handed me their card, which said, 'Messiah Productions.' All this religious scripture was written on the back. The last thing I wanted was to join any kind of Christian band.

I went to L.A. to be a drummer in a band.

I'd love to believe in my government so I could trust law enforcement people again. I don't have that belief any more.