Sure, they thought of them as Revolutionaries or traitors liable to be imprisoned or hung if captured. However, context is everything. The crime of the Founding Fathers was revolt against the crown in the name of democracy & liberty, not invading some other country's embassy and holding its citizens hostage while supporting a revolt intended to establish a theocratic dictatorship. When the connection is tenuous while the differences are stark, the person positing the connection is either ignorant or deliberately trying to obfuscate.
Good comment -- I agree. And when the person making the comment is speaking to millions or people, as an authority figure who is supposed to know what he's talking about, it's disturbing.