He was a creep. But he didn't deserve to be shot and all his followers (nearly) burned alive. If they wanted to take him so badly, why didn't they arrest him at any of the times he was in town? Then a confrontation would have been unnecessary and nobody had to die. But they had to flex the muscle of federal agencies and interdict a "dangerous domestic terrorist" who already believed in the inevitable conflict of the government with his followers. What did they think would happen?