I’ve heard of enough genuine stories like yours to form the view...

I’ve heard of enough genuine stories like yours to form the view that the mainstream narrative on this is fairly manipulated and distorted. And that is nothing new - the politico/news cycle is mega-big business and mega-bucks, flogging a ‘product’ that is glamorized, manipulated and dumbed-down - basically more Hollywood. As with Hollywood there is a sort of generic but tenuous connection with reality. Which is fine for ‘entertainment’ but dubious for real life.
Saying this sort of thing is by definition out-of-line, and the reaction is often instant fury and calls of ‘conspiracist’.