DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: A non-definitive answer about Jan. 6 with 44,000 hours of footage being released

Last week, AP News (a news source we aren’t always sure if we should follow) reported House Speaker Mike Johnson is releasing about 44,000 hours of Jan. 6 footage.  

That is a big deal for many reasons.

For example, there are people who it has been said have been harassed for having anything to do with being in Washington DC that day. 

Some people I have been told have even said they were harassed and were not even there.

Many people are already in prison or have been found guilty and are awaiting next steps.

Whatever the case may be, on Jan. 6, 2021, there was a large number – more than one million were at the U.S. Capital with the idea to protest in whatever way it is being said they did so.

By the way, for the future history of how Jan. 6 will go down in the books much of what I found reveals (for this story I used History Channel’s “This Day in History” information about Jan. 6 – https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/january-6-capitol-riot) “On the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021, a mob of President Donald Trump’s supporters descended on the U.S. Capitol, attempting to interfere with the certification of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election. 

“The rioters assaulted the Capitol police force and ransacked the complex, destroying property and sending members of Congress and their staff into hiding in offices and bunkers. A protester who was shot by police died in the chaos and more than 100 members of law enforcement were injured.

“At noon on Jan. 6, at a rally on the Ellipse one mile from the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Trump claimed election fraud and called on Vice President Pence to overturn the 2020 election results by refusing to certify certain electoral votes. 

“Trump told his assembled supporters, ‘We’re going to walk down to the Capitol’ and ‘if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.’”

This is what is recorded as American history for Jan. 6, 2021, did you know?

Did anyone who wrote this history for the History Channel comb through those 44,000 hours first?  

I recently saw in just released footage the Capital police clearing a pathway for people to walk the halls of the house wing on Jan. 6. I am curious how much video footage there will turn out to be of angry mobbers?

The footage Johnson has decided to release to the public is a positive move – because no one believes the media anymore.

For example, the above mentioned History Channel is owned by A&E Networks, who is owned by The Walt Disney Company, NBC Universal and Hearst Corporation. And, lest you forget the paper trail, who is it that owns these three major networks? 

If you have read my column over the past year you know about Vanguard, Black Rock, and State Street and why it should come as no surprise they are the top shareholders. 

We should not be so quick to point out the definitive history of Jan. 6 when 44,000 hours of footage has just now been released.

The final hearing in the Jan. 6 congressional hearing after 18 months of investigation resulted in the members of the committee determining there was enough evidence to charge Trump on four charges that still has many people scratching their head

So, insurrection or peaceful demonstration? 

The good news is this 44,000 hour of video that Johnson just released should clear all this up, right?

Here are a few Jan. 6 facts:

The longest sentence for whatever happened on that day was given to Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, former leader of the right-wing extremist group Proud Boys who was sentenced to 22 years for his part in the Jan. 6 event.

Axios reported (www.axios.com/2023/09/01/jan-6-longest-sentences-list) more than 1,100 people have now faced Jan. 6 criminal charges. It was also revealed 110 people have been found guilty at trial and about 366 have been sentenced to incarceration in connection to the attack reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C. as of end of July. 

There were also 632 people who pleaded guilty to federal charges, of the nearly 1,000 individuals charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds, 104 have been charged with “entering a restricted area with a dangerous or deadly weapon,” per the U.S. Attorney’s office for D.C.

Speaker Johnson commented he released the footage because it will “provide millions of Americans, criminal defendants, public interest organizations, and the media an ability to see for themselves what happened that day, rather than having to rely upon the interpretation of a small group of government officials.”

On Oct. 6, the Department of Justice released a comment stating since that time more than 1,069 defendants have been charged in nearly all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with approximately 350 criminal charges. It also notes approximately 140 police officers were assaulted Jan. 6 and a police magazine indicated it agreed with that number.

A variety of numbers that include 935 defendants charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds, approximately 594 individuals who have plead guilty to a variety of federal charges, approximately 160 have pleaded guilty to felonies, another 434 have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors, a total of 68 of those who have pleaded guilty to felonies have pleaded to federal charges of assaulting law enforcement officers, approximately 36 additional defendants have pleaded guilty to feloniously obstructing, impeding, or interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder.

Of the 104 defendants, 76 have now been sentenced to prison terms of up to 150 months, four of those who have pleaded guilty to felonies have pleaded guilty to the federal charge of seditious conspiracy, and the numbers go on, 

Did you know so many people had already been tried, and sentenced and had pleaded guilty?

I did not.

In fact, I think many people believe there are more questions than answers and again, perhaps the 44,000 hours of footage will reveal the truth, right – so everyone can see EXACTLY what happened.

Remember when US Rep. Clay Higgins from Louisiana was on fire questioning FBI Director Christopher Wray about Jan. 6? He was asking him about the FBI’s presence and participation in the months leading up to the November election and the weeks and days prior to Jan. 6 and on Jan. 6 in DC.

Higgins mentioned the FBI informant who said under oath “March to the US capital with fellow Proud Boys members on Jan. 6,” apparently communicating with his FBI handler while people were entering the US Capital.

Higgins referred to ghost buses “nefarious in nature and filled with FBI informants dressed as Trump supporters deployed on our capital on Jan. 6.”

Wray said “If you are asking if the violence at the capital on Jan. 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or agents the answer is emphatically no.”

There was also the question as to why Nancy Pelosi’s daughter, Alexandra had a video of Jan. 6 and according to one man she admitted “no real insurrection ever occurred.” 

So many questions, so many people involved and so many people who have personally used Jan. 6 as the reason they are afraid to stand up for our country and protest situations they do not agree with destroying the United States.

And the 44,000 hours of just released footage, let’s see it all with no biased left or right opinion.

And one final thought someone asked, and it has me scratching my head. 

I am sure there is a good answer though. If everyone was arrested or got into some sort of trouble on Jan. 6 for being there, and Nancy Pelosi’s daughter was at the Capital on Jan. 6 filming, why isn’t she being prosecuted for wrongly being there too?

Rita Cook is a freelance writer for The Ellis County Press. She can be reached at rcook13@earthlink.net