The Sixth

A photographer brings us back to the day our capital was under siege by a group of people that were invited by The Actual president that day to come to the capital because he had lost the election and was mad so he called on his mob to disrupt our certification of our new President. Made me emotional!

The photographer brings you in to the actual day that so many will not forget. My Dad was a WW11 Vet and he wouldn't believe our country would follow anyone to tell them to go against our government. My cousin died at age 18 in Vietnam and our country used to respect protests if they were peaceful. This was not peaceful!!

"Usually the Federal Government comes in to back up local law enforcement. On January 6th, local law enforcement came to the rescue of the Federal Government." Washington DC Chief of Police ---- I did not know many things about January 6th but I always assumed when the then POTUS told people to go home - the crowd did. That's not what happened. They kept attacking, as violent as ever, but law enforcement from VA, MD, and NJ swept in and dispersed the crowd. Regular police officers faced that huge crowd and relieved the few hundred that had battled them for hours.

I definitely just recommend watching this documentary. It uses extensive actual footage and interviews the D. C. Chief of Police, a D. C. Policeman (himself a former Guardsman), a Capitol policewoman, a photographer in the crowd, a congressman, and a Congressional Staffer (running with the six theme). There is almost no political commentary. Just what law enforcement and our Congress faced. Regardless of what one thinks about the vote - I have no doubt law enforcement in the Capitol saved many lives that day. There were people in that mob ready to kill Congressmen and women.

We can get locked into pointing fingers on who should have done what and chain of command. For the record , I learned the nearby Guardsmen were unarmed and had no body armor. So they really couldn't have been used. But all I can say is I am grateful for the heroes of the day and that local law enforcement stepped into the breach. And I hope in the future we will be as fast against a domestic threat as we would be for a foreign one.

We should make sure that nothing like that ever happens again.

It was all captured on video, there is no denying what happened that day. A US President attempt to become a king. But those that continue to call this a tourist walk, only want one thing, a one party rule to end democracy. On January 6th, MAGA attempted to capture the Capitol and every congress member within while the President watched his horrific creation based on election lies unfold. Brainwashed by a one man's ultimate goal of becoming a dictator they invaded the Capitol, luckily they failed, but only when those around the President had to beg him to stop his maniacal plan. Lives were lost, a nation divided even further, and this monster of now a former President is attempting finish what he started. It is up to the people to decide what kind of nation they want to live under, whether a democracy as it stands today, or a dictatorship with Trump at the helm. Just one word: Vote.

This is an outstanding journal on the darkest day of American Democracy and the inside look of the attempt to dismantle that very thing. Clearly this is meant for anyone who utilizes critical thinking and appreciates educating oneself, and proceeds to do so by exposure to reality and facts - something the mob on that day is dire allergic to do on all fronts.

One understandably sad outlook of these events is certainly the comparison of police response to other gatherings throughout the country. There's no need to even look beyond the current atmosphere of college campuses and how peaceful protests are seemingly turned into expositions of violence when those who are protesting are unarmed and their only weapons used are words. When looking back at significant moments like the BLM protests, it becomes painfully clear that the motivation for police to use violence against such gatherings is brought about by extreme rhetoric while observing the clear lack of weaponization of those crowds. This film made it crystal clear from the moment of the early morning gatherings of these traitors that they were armed and arrived with death and violence at the forefront of their agendas. Strength in numbers seems to be an allergy the police on that day couldn't seemingly overcome.

This is not to say one should not feel anything for these officers who were there to protect our Capital and Democracy itself. These individuals are heroes and there is no taking away from that. It is merely an eye opening looking into how the difference scenarios can lead to polar opposite outcomes, all stemming from who exactly it is that they are pitted up against. There should be zero doubt for any viewer that if the mob of traitors that showed up on this day looked entirely different, yet arrived with the same weapons and intent, the outcome would have played out entirely different and it would have never have escalated to the level of assault that happened.

With those takeaways in mind, the harsh reality of it all is that there is a group of people in this country who are susceptible to the most blatant disinformation and lies. In an age of facts being readily available it's extremely unfortunate that any individual would openly choose to keep themselves uneducated and locked away from reality. When you purposely cherry pick data to fit within the confines of your personal belief system, you are creating a disservice for yourself more than anyone else. Unfortunately, there are way too many examples of this selective reality that folks choose to live within, and it doesn't seem like that is changing anytime soon. If anything, it is only leaning further into the opposite direction.

For any of those who contemplate this day was nothing more than a "peaceful gathering" of protestors, I implore you to stop living within your ignorance bubbles and expose yourself to the facts and reality. Educating yourself should be a prime directive in life and shouldn't be something you look at as an inconvenience. People died on this day and people are still suffering from mental issues because of it. Democracy and America itself were both threatened in the name of false narratives. There is no fictional tale you can tell to change those facts.

This film reminds us of the truth of that day from six people who experienced it first hand and through whose courage, democracy triumphed. Original footage shows aspects of the day that never made the news. The award-winning directors live in Washington DC and have a unique perspective. The featured people include policemen and women who protected the Capitol, congressional aides who barricaded themselves in offices, a photographer embedded in the crowd with insurgents, and a congressman. The imagery is powerful and irrefutable and even if you watched the events unfold in live time, there are scenes that have never been seen.