Rarely does a k-12 Social Studies certificated education professional dual-credentialled ( in-progress) in Special Education have the honor of reviewing  a documentary that has a current mainstream narrative. I am grateful that the stars aligned– Day of Rage: How Trump Supporters Took the U.S. Capitol | Visual Investigations is the documentary; I am the teacher.

Based upon a six-month-long investigative process which yielded never-before-seen footage, Day of Rage, from Directors  David Botti and Malachy Browne with narration by Browne and Producer Haley Willis, documents the journey of a group of hundreds of angry overwhelmingly white men and women who were whipped into a violent rage by POTUS45 and subsequently assaulted the US Capitol and many of its’ occupants. The attempt to disrupt the certification of the quadrennial plebiscite in the United States of America on January 6, 2021, is depicted through videos woven together into a chronologically precise timeline.   I forty-one emotionally intense minutes, Day of Rage lays bare a planned, premeditated insurrection with fatalities and injuries. After the insurrection ended, all the participants were allowed to return to their homes.

As with any story such as Day of Rage that is still being told even as this review is being written, this documentary needs to be watched by the largest audience possible BECAUSE it leaves many unanswered questions:
Was 1-6-2021 a harbinger of national anarchy and chaos still to come? Were the participants on  1.6.2021 a large COVID-19 Superdpreader Cohort?* Will a former sitting President of the United States, his senior staff, and members of the current bicameral US Congress face any legal consequences for their behavioral choices before, during, and after Day of Rage? Could this happen in the USA again? Could another insurrection end the American experiment in representative democracy? My wish would be for a national Town Hall where the entire bicameral US Congress would be required to watch while cameras rolled. Afterward, anyone live streaming the event would be able to ask questions. It is not too much of a stretch to posit that such a national conversation may offer the best chance of “never again’ becoming a reality. In the meantime, groups of friends and every family in the USA and Americans living abroad should view this iconic historical narrative, now playing on YouTube.

*- [The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first granted emergency use authorization to the Pfizer–BioNTech vaccine on December 10, 2020;[5] mass vaccinations began on December 14, 2020. The Moderna vaccine was granted emergency use authorization on December 17, 2020]