Harbingers
What January 6 and Charlottesville Reveal About Rising Threats to American Democracy
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- $39.99
Publisher Description
A clear-eyed assessment of where we go from here—detailing how to combat misinformation and isolation—from the foremost expert on American political violence
“A soulful and significant contribution to defeating the authoritarian threat in America.” — Congressman Jamie Raskin, author of Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy
“Tim’s insights can help us reclaim a government that works for all Americans and restore faith in our democratic institutions.” — Barbara McQuade, author of Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America
As the lead investigator into both the 2017 racist riot in Charlottesville and the January 6 insurrection, Tim Heaphy has a unique perspective on the cynicism and anger that also fueled Trump’s return to the Presidency. All 3 events, both the violent protests and the peaceful and lawful decisions made at the ballot box in November of 2024, reflect an increasing lack of trust in institutions among a growing number of Americans.
In his page-turning book, Heaphy shares what he saw and came to understand about what those events say about the state of American democracy. He examines how and why they took place with the hope that understanding the contexts of these events will be a crucial and helpful step toward avoiding similar episodes of political violence in the years ahead.
Readers will travel alongside Heaphy as he organized his team and structured the massive investigations they were about to undertake, as he interacts with politicians and members of law enforcement, interviews planners, perpetrators, and bystanders, gathers and sorts evidence, and compels and records testimony in order to create a record for today as well as future generations.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this informative debut, Heaphy shares what he learned about political violence from his unique position as the lead investigator of both the 2017 Unite the Right riot in Charlottesville and the January 6 insurrection. As the former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia, Heaphy was tapped to investigate Unite the Right, and the after-action report he and his team produced identified numerous law enforcement failures, including underestimating the size of the rally and lack of coordination between agencies. Heaphy's success in that role led to his appointment as chief counsel for the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. Recapping those findings, Heaphy highlights the similarities between the two episodes, especially the law enforcement failures of each; in both cases, he contends, there was adequate intelligence and appropriate resources available, but planning was deficient because of "striking" disconnects "between the intelligence and the operational plans." He identifies several reasons for those disconnects—the lack of adequate information sharing, agencies ignoring "leads derived from open sources" (i.e., online postings), and racial bias, which led to the threat from white men being underestimated. Heaphy concludes by prescribing well-meaning remedies to political violence—like encouraging policies that promote civic engagement and strengthen community ties—that unfortunately seem inadequate to addressing the institutional problems he himself has diagnosed. Still, Heaphy offers valuable insights into how political violence turns deadly.
