However, the belief that we were close to losing our democracy to these so-called "insurrectionists", even if they did manage to kill Mike Pence, is pure nonsense.

I don't have that belief. It's my understanding that Pence never had the authority to reject or accept any new slates of electors. He had a ceremonial function with no authority, so that never would've worked. I'm not sure of the process, but I think the Supreme Court would've ruled that way. That whole scheme was concocted by Roger Stone out of thin air it seems.

However, there were people there who believed to various degrees their presence at the Jan 6 event would help Trump retain the Presidency. The presence of false electoral slates is proof that there was a scheme devised to help Trump retain power against the will of the people. It doesn't matter that some of the people were unaware of the entirety of the scheme or how implausible it was for it to be considered an insurrection and a failed self coup.