I attended the rally on January 6 in Washington, D.C.  I know what the atmosphere was like.  I heard the speech.  It was a huge crowd on the Ellipse, and the mood was warm and friendly even though the temperature was frigid.  I saw none of the black-clad individuals pictured in many of the shots inside the Capitol building.  I did have a woman I met in the crowd point at someone and tell me she thought he was an infiltrator because he was wearing camouflage and a Trump cap on backwards.  I peered over to where she was pointing and nodded my head, as I too had read to be alert for these posers.  Other than that, I saw only fellow Americans enjoying the camaraderie and the welcoming atmosphere of the rally. 

Since then, I have read many accounts of the events of that day, and several said that no real Trump fan would have left his speech early to be at the Capitol by the time the trouble started.  Well, I have to confess: even though I am a die-hard supporter, I did convince my companions to head over to the Capitol a little before the speech was over.  As much as I love Trump, I have heard almost every rally of his on television, so I was okay with missing the last few minutes.

According to the time stamp on my pictures, we were approaching the Capitol at 1:05 P.M.  Even there, the people wandering around looked like all the rest of us Trump-supporters.  I didn't like the fact that there was no police presence and that people were milling around wherever they wanted.  I convinced my friends that we should probably not hang around, and we headed back to our hotel by 1:20 p.m.

My point here is that I saw nothing that day that portended what took place inside the Capitol building.  Before we left, we did see and hear what sounded like a cannon go off twice on the far right side of the building.  I have also seen the videos where the Capitol police are opening the doors and ushering people in.  I have also read about a massive number of arrests of "insurrectionists."  However, try as I might, I have seen very little follow-up on the results of those arrests.  I have my suspicions, and they are not good.

First of all, I suspect that many of the most destructive actors were Antifa, BLM, or just other agitators.  I know that Trump-supporters were in the mêlée as well, but again, I suspect that they were largely egged on by the real agitators and got carried away.  I say this primarily because I have really tried to pay attention to announcements of arrests and what charges might be brought.  My theory is that if any of these arrests had any meat to them, we would be hearing about it nonstop twenty-four seven.

This observation, for me, is telling.  I am certain that if they had actual Trump-supporters caught breaking windows and furniture, we would be seeing their mug shots everywhere, and we would be hearing the mainstream media screaming about these horrible people all day long.  If I am right, and they really don't have anything, and they certainly aren't going to prosecute any Antifa types, then it will all be swept under the rug, and they will get away with this even though they have smeared all of us who participated.  They created all of this hysteria and character assassination just to feed their narrative.  There will be no retractions, no peace for any of us.  And all the Republicans and conservative talking heads who gnashed their teeth about the horrible Trump people who did this should be ashamed of themselves for jumping to the conclusion so quickly that this was all Trump's fault and his terrible supporters'.  It is infuriating and just so wrong.

Alas, just another day in leftist paradise.

Image: Lars Di Scenza via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.