There's truth and then there's narrative. This is our January 6th truth and a request for financial support. 

I have suffered in silence for a long time as the federal government came for my family. Our journey - like every conservative targeted by the Biden regime - has been emotionally and financially catastrophic. 

My name is Traci Isaacs and I'm the mother of two special needs kids - one 18 (still in high school) who can't function independently and probably never will. The other has Autism and soon turns 12.  We're a simple Christian family from a small Florida town who've never been in trouble with the law. 

Three people from our family were arrested, prosecuted, and convicted for the events of January 6, 2021: myself, my husband, and my late brother's then 21-year-old son. My nephew and I were members of the Oath Keepers and had volunteered for a January 6th medical and security detail. This immediately put our family on the radar and the FBI visited our home shortly after we returned. I learned later that a childhood friend and her sister had also reported our presence at the Capitol to the FBI.

We are not wealthy people and scraped together absolutely everything we had to hire private lawyers to protect us. Despite being represented, accused of no violence or property destruction, meeting with the FBI and offering to turn ourselves in if needed (especially because of the kids' medical issues), we were still subjected to a terrifying, early-morning, armed FBI raid with our children present. We were pulled from our home at gunpoint as our frightened children watched both their parents arrested: myself for document destruction and my husband for trespassing. My nephew had been arrested a year prior and faced nine superseding indictments. 

My eldest struggles with the trauma of the raid and still feels we are unsafe. My children spent months looking out our windows and reporting any cars or people stopped on our road. They still do this sometimes. We were constantly tracked by agents, including drones that periodically hovered over our home. I received a written death threat in the mail, a promise to be quietly executed one day by a secret group that allegedly included a Navy SEAL. We read terrible, vitriolic comments and news coverage. Friends broke contact and even shunned our children.  Months passed and the stress was almost unbearable. You can't imagine the incredible power of the federal government when it's focused on your small family.

We had already suffered terrible tragedies before the Washington trip and were not on good emotional ground. We lost my father, my stepmother, and then horrifically, my younger brother in 2019. He left behind three children who were kicked out of their lifelong home by my brother's second wife.

We were steeped in grief and turmoil when we pulled out of our driveway that cold, January day. We had just lost the most important person in our family and his children had nothing, something my brother (a 20-year EMS Captain) never would have done. His sons were his reason for living. I hired a lawyer so his three boys - two of whom are Autistic - could fight back. That fight ended with our arrests because we couldn't afford the ongoing cost. His sons lost everything, even each other. We recovered a scant few personal items, such as his baby book and some photos, only because neighbors tipped us off that his belongings were placed out as curbside trash.

My mother, a retired firefighter and paramedic, grew ill after our arrests. The stress of my brother's death, the loss of his home,  and our legal turmoil was too much. She rapidly descended into disabling dementia. I moved her into my house in 2022 and provided around-the-clock care until her death a year later. It was the greatest honor of my life to love and care for her as she made the journey to our heavenly home. She died in our arms on October 17, 2023 , a mere few weeks ahead of my scheduled sentencing.  Fortunately, I was able to have her wake and spend the holidays with my heartbroken children because my sentencing was bumped forward two months.

These last several years have taken a heavy toll with much time for reflection.

We are not terrorists or insurrectionists. We are Americans who love our nation. We went to Washington on January 6 to support a fair election. We believe in our voice and vote - it's the only real inheritance we have. Our vote steers this American ship from rocky shores. We no longer have a voice. The nation passed to us has been taken from our children. We are not a free people and the sooner we accept this reality, the sooner we can decide if we all want to live this way. This Constitutional Republic is dying. 

We did not go to the Capitol with any ideas of overthrowing the government. We went so they could see us, to know that we exist and that we love our country. This act of love turned into a riot. I am not proud of this. It was a terrible, terrible mistake and did nothing but hurt our cause and undermine the MAGA movement. A beautiful groundswell of freedom-loving Americans have been decimated by these prosecutions, several have committed suicide. We had something real, something unique, something unifying and glorious that was deeply wounded by poor decision-making; mine included. I accept responsibility for my mistakes and learn from them; it's the only way we grow  I often wonder what our Freedom Caucus might have accomplished if the rally had not devolved into a riot that took the lives of our people! 

Be smarter and understand what you're up against. 

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” - Ephesians 6:12

I wish we could say it's over but it's not, not for our family or yours

I was sentenced on January 12, 2024, to one year in federal prison for deleting messages from my phone (1512c1). I will be taken from my family sometime in the next four to six weeks. I still believe in freedom even now as I prepare to lose my own, to say goodbye to my children, my husband, and my home. I will miss my children's birthdays and worse, my daughter's high school graduation. Apologies will not make up for that. They share our punishments.

Despair is the devil's handiwork so don't lose all hope. Our inalienable rights are God-given. They cannot be revoked. This IS our birthright.  God will once again smile upon our nation if we follow His word. We can regain our beloved country with Christ's intervention. Our Father loves us, most especially in our darkest hours.

"The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain."  - Padre Pio

I have learned hard lessons through this experience so far; the most important being real faith, the faith that comes from facing a Goliath-sized opponent with no idea how you will overcome.  I've learned that faith and trust are synonymous and there's no room between for fear. 

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5-6

Miraculously, my nephew was given 18 months home confinement and has moved forward in both his life and his devotion to Christ. My husband received probation. I'm awaiting a letter for my report date and prison location.

This on-going 3-year journey left us exhausted and broke but filled with faith and love. 

Financially, we have some important challenges ahead, including a large fine as part of my sentence. The small cushion we had is long gone and we are most definitely in debt. We have the cost of my upcoming incarceration too. I want to leave as little on my husband's plate as possible. There's no recovery from what we've experienced, only time heals wounds.

Please leave a prayer if you can't afford donations because that means more to me than paper. Prayer is the boat that continues to carry our family through this torrent. God always provides. 

God bless America !