This week on the Almost Serious podcast, host Sarah Stock sat down with Adam Christian Johnson—better known to many as “Podium Guy” or “Via Getty”—to discuss the events of January 6, 2021. In addition to his newfound media notoriety, the iconic photo of him carrying Nancy Pelosi’s lectern that day earned him 75 days in jail and a $5,000 fine. The J6s were portrayed as violent insurrectionists, but what if they’ve been misunderstood? Johnson shows us the real story behind what happened that day.

January 6 happened because many Americans were deeply disturbed by the state of the nation. First, they believed the election had been stolen. Americans like Johnson were thrown off by things like boarded-up windows and early morning ballot drops that seemed suspect. They were fed up with what they saw as blatant double standards.

“But it really is a lot more than that. It was about COVID lockdowns and restrictions. It was about Anthony Fauci and the NIH and this designer virus that somehow came out of a lab.”

The Capitol protesters wanted a response to their very legitimate concerns. Instead, they were persecuted, ridiculed, and criminalized.

The J6s were also seeking answers about the growing fear of wars—wars Americans didn’t vote for. “I have five children … one of them just turned 18, and he is at draft age now. I didn't want war.” 

The so-called “rampant” claims of the protesters are, honestly, not as outrageous as the media deemed them to be: “We wanted a strong economy. We like cheap gas. We like cheap groceries. We want good trade deals. And Trump has been and is concurrently doing those things.” God forbid, Americans ask for basic decency from their own government, right?

“This was the first time we had a president [Trump] that really was a president of the people, for the people. And we saw that with his policy and the way that he spoke to people. And when we saw the deep state come in and, what I believe, stole the election, we were convinced we were never again going to have that opportunity.” For the J6s, the turnout of the election meant they were never going to have the opportunity for a Greater America again. 

What happened on January 6 makes us question who really cares about democracy in the so-called land of the free. It’s no joke to watch your future be snatched away, and yet this is precisely what the J6s fought against that day.

January 6 was, at its core, about restoring the people’s voice—and their president.