January 6, 2021, started out like any other day for Washington D.C.-based photographer and Howard University adjunct professor Cheriss May. On assignment for Getty to cover the ceremonial Electoral College vote count inside the U.S. Capitol, May remembers the morning began quietly and security was high.
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“I thought that the Capitol was the safest place in this country, and [Jan. 6] turned all of that upside down for me,” says May, who had also been at the Capitol during the height of the George Floyd protests, when building security was at its peak. The double standard for policing quickly revealed itself.
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Barricaded for hours inside Congressman Jim Clyburn’s office, insurrectionists ran amok. May tried to get word out to her loved ones but she couldn’t get a signal. “I felt like my life was in danger. I felt trapped,” she says. May remembers kneeling on the floor with her camera poised to shoot as unidentified people demanded they open the door. This happened three times. The final time, the doors were breached by FBI and Capitol police with guns drawn.
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“My life flashed before my eyes three times that day,” May says. “I didn’t know if I was going to make it out of there. What has helped me is the work. It helps me to live through it and to move forward. This is my passion and my purpose. To have that gives me strength.”
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