Nick Searcy can’t let it go.
The “Justified” alum has seen too many suppressed videos and interviewed too many people punished by Team Biden.
The actor’s 2022 documentary “Capitol Punishment” showed the U.S. government cracking down on Jan. 6 protesters with extreme prejudice. “The War on Truth” bears a different name but builds on that legacy.
We’re once again forced to consider a terrible question. Has the Biden Administration declared war on MAGA nation and, by extension, our freedom to protest?
The answers aren’t simple. Some facts remain out of reach. Searcy’s film offers no rebuttals. It’s still hard to dismiss the first-person testimonies suggesting just that.
The 2022 film included details that seemed far-fetched at first blush. Even conservatives may have questioned a few of “Capitol Punishment’s” charges. Then, slowly, one news cycle after another backed some of the claims.
Searcy and co. proved prescient, and he brought some of the receipts.
The semi-sequel introduces us to more Jan. 6 protesters. Some claim they committed no violent acts on that fateful day. Others report inhumane conditions like undrinkable water and sheets of mold clinging to the jail cell sinks.
We hear repeated examples of the U.S. government treating these political outcasts as deadly foes. Why break out laser-guided rifles and flash bang grenades when a simple knock on the door would suffice?
Are these grandmas, military veterans and mild-mannered souls a clear and present danger? Hardly. And it doesn’t end there.
Some Trump supporters describe being banned by major tech platforms like PayPal, Venmo and Patreon following their arrests. Others reveal a system where taking a plea becomes the only option when facing the government’s legal team.
A few describe legal nightmares where critical evidence can’t be shared in court.
“The War on Truth” uncovers a sizable overlap with the Christian community. Many J6 protesters have a sturdy spiritual side, which guides their path through the haze of punishment.
Did that also put a target on their backs?
Like “Capitol Punishment,” “The War on Truth” occasionally sugarcoats the nature of the Jan. 6 protests. Some were clearly violent, and police officers took the brunt of their actions. The melee that followed proved a shameful spectacle.
No matter how many times we see MAGA patriots singing and praying that cold reality remains.
A haunting interview late in the film finds a J6 protester describing how she nearly got trampled in the day’s chaos. Later, she claims Capitol police pummeled her with metal batons even though she never threatened them.
Video footage from the encounter proves hard to make out, but it appears to corroborate some of her story.
She also claims that footage was held back from her legal team, a common charge related to Jan. 6 footage. Remember how media outlets howled over the prospect of more footage being released to the public?
She, too, got an early wake-up call from a small army of police and federal agents at her door on Arrest Day.
Is she making it up? Are the others? We’ve already seen enough Ring camera footage in the previous film to suggest otherwise.
“Truth” runs roughly two hours, and it’s shocking there’s enough galling information to push the documentary to that point. The film doesn’t offer much in the way of slick production values, sticking to traditional nonfiction visuals.
The stories provide all the necessary color.
Documentaries can weave powerful narratives while leaving key details behind. The mainstream media is expert at this approach. We still don’t know all the stories surrounding Jan. 6 and the extreme actions to bring those who broke the law that day to justice.
The folks featured in “The War on Truth” may not be sharing all the pertinent details of their cases. Searcy’s heart goes out to the assembled voices in the film, and he occasionally is overwhelmed by emotion hearing their tales.
There’s no “other side of the story” presented here.
“The War on Truth” demands we keep digging into the matter, asking more questions and letting the protesters speak.
It’s hard to disagree with that. It’s an American’s duty to do so.
HiT or Miss: What “The War on Truth” lacks in Hollywood polish it more than makes up for in its dizzying array of inconvenient truths.