Exactly. The argument is typically a 'tyrannical' or authoritarian government, not one you don't like.
Apart from personal political beliefs, there is some objectivity to that.
Somebody can be for universal healthcare all he wants but to claim that a government is tyrannical because they 'take away' ( = won't pay for with money taken away from others) HC is just objectively BS. The guy basically was somebody who acted as a mercenary for another government/part of the government if you want, and it's certainly not less authoritarian.
I agree that violence against authorities can be justified, "even" in the USA in 2017. It's pretty hard to argue against a guy who defends himself and his property if they send a SWAT team to his house because he's growing cannabis on his own private property. Or if somebody plans an assassination after something like the NSA scandal and argues with that. Or if Trump introduced stop-and-frisk. etc et pp