“We were set up…they had an ambush set up for us"

The implication given in news stories at the time was that Kahl was trapped by authorities in a frame structure in Arkansas, not an earth-bermed house, and that that structure had burned down around him, much like the barn around John Wilkes Booth. Comments made locally at the time were of the nature that the Feds had a body, and that was what they wanted.

The book that came out shortly thereafter to control the narrative was Bitter Harvest

Most of us up here heard about the shootout, and that stunk on ice. Why, when, if they wanted to arrest Kahl (in North Dakota), had they not just picked him up at the barber shop in town?

This could have been done without the whole ambush.

Apparently, the goal was not to arrest but to have an excuse to kill him, and the fewer witnesses the better. At least that's how a lot of people interpreted it.

It wasn't long before the whole thing was spun into being an anti-semitic and "far right" (implying neonazi) movement, linking Kahl in with Posse Comitatus.

This fundamental Alinsky tactic was also used by the press in a coordinated attack on Koresh in Waco, at the time of the initial raid.

I did not know Kahl personally, nor any of his family members, and was never a member of any farm protest group, but my understanding was that his focus generally fell along two topics: farm policy and the income tax.

There were a lot of farm programs in the day, but it was my understanding you had to be signed on for certain ones to get any of the rest of them. I recall a local farmer asking Senator Conrad about a program in a townhall, and finding out that because he had not signed up for some other programs he was not eligible for that one. His response was one of What? I'm not a farmer because I didn't sign up?

For farmers, who spend much of their working time isolated (sometimes miles away from the nearest person), the warning was obvious from the Kahl incident.

The government will come visit you 'at work', and if things go wrong, you will be blamed.

The takeaway lesson is this: do not let your self or your small group be isolated by FLEAs. Do not let the FLEAs control the narrative--have info on the web or elsewhere have means of verifying your position or actions, whenever possible.

Have your own cameras in the trees, so to speak, and only one or two very well trusted folks know where they are in case there is an incident.

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