Remembering January 6th, 2021


It's February 13th, 2021, and I'm remembering January 6th of this year. Or at least I'm trying to. It wasn't that long ago, but it's history now, and I'm trying to imagine people in the future explaining it to people who weren't alive at the time. In my mind I'm comparing it to other historic things that have happened, and that I've asked people about, what they remember. I'll tell you what I remember. History is written by the victors, and I'm in that group, and I can't help having that point of view, but I'll try to be as objective as possible.

On January 6th, 2021, a group of people broke into the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to protest the United States presidential election results. I was at home, in Arizona, when it happened, and while I don't recall the exact moment, I was aware of what was going on because of an app called "TikTok" which allowed me to watch much of the coverage streamed. I also follow a TikTok creator, Marcus DiPaola, who was there in person covering it.

If you're a history buff, you know the phrase "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter", so when I describe these people, trying to be as objective as possible, it's impossible for me to describe them without revealing my bias, which I explained at the beginning of this post. To me, these people were not freedom fighters, they were terrorists. I had been following the story for several months, and it was based on claims that the election results were fraudulent. No evidence was ever produced for this, but it didn't stop people from believing it, and acting on that premise. To themselves, they were freedom fighters.

I recall that it was surprisingly easy for the people to break into the Capitol chambers. I have no idea what the security of government buildings in Washington D.C. is, but I guess I had the impression that just gathering a group of people wouldn't be enough. In addition to a local police force, Washington D.C. is where the United States military is coordinated from. But the people easily pushed down barriers, broke windows, and entered the building.

Another thing that I didn't know was how vulnerable the United States elected officials were, beneath the President and the Vice President. Those two people are protected by the Secret Service, but no on else is. So while everyone was rushing around for safety, the Vice President was protected by deadly force, and someone got shot and killed.

The impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is happening right now, and during the process much of the videos are being shown again. And I can't help but think what future generations will think, and how much they will believe. But I was alive in on January 6th of 2021, and I saw it.
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Comments

  1. CelesteFebruary 14, 2021 at 6:35 PM

    I hate to disagree with you, Brad Hall. You seem like a nice guy. They were actually neither terrorists nor freedom fighters. If you are going to call them terrorists, I would hope that you also call last summer's BLM and Anifa rioters terrorists as well. I don't want to make this a long comment, so I will just say listen to Candace Owen's latest video "IMPORTANT: Everything you were told about the “Capitol Riot” is a lie", for a more accurate take on what actually happened! And please don't ban me from your posts. I usually like them very much.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brad HallFebruary 15, 2021 at 6:17 AM

    Hi Celeste! Thank you for being here. And I would never DREAM of banning you. I'm glad to have you along with me history adventuring, and I hope you'll stick around. There's so much left for me to learn, and it's no fun for me if I can't share it.

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