Intelligence expert Malcolm Nance published They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency in 2022. Writing this review on the heels of the 2024 Presidential election, I am reminded of the American tendency to disregard warnings and refuse to learn from the past. When Nance wrote his book, the Capitol building was resecured, the excrement was cleaned off the furniture and floors, and the noose had been cut down. The January 6, 2001, insurrection was still fresh in everyone’s minds, but other outrages had taken center stage. Trump had upended the American tradition of a peaceful transfer of power between presidential administrations- the first president to do so. Adding to his catalog of “firsts,” he was the first president to be impeached twice. He also continued to maintain the election was stolen though there was no evidence to support this claim.
But along with the myriad Trump and insurrectionist lawsuits, America had Afghanistan to worry about. And the COVID-19 pandemic. And growing inflation. And the ever-present threat presented by Russia, North Korea, and China. So, we forgot about the clear and present danger within our shores. Nance warned the reader that “(t)he actions of Trump that led to the January 6, 2021, attack on the capitol and his impeachment trial provide more than enough evidence that he will continue spinning a dangerous mythology of himself as folk hero and conquering knight.” This is the exact mythos that helped propel Trump back into the Oval Office in 2024.
We cannot predict what will happen in the next four years. It’s too early for historians to really understand the impact of the first Trump administration and insurrection. The only lesson seems to be the one lesson Americans never fail to ignore: listen to experts and pay heed to their warnings.

This book is a must-read for anyone concerned about national security, political analysis, and the future of American democracy, as it offers a chilling warning and in-depth examination of the Trump Insurgency and its potential to spark a wave of terrorist attacks and armed confrontations on American soil.

Malcolm Nance has given us a gift with this book. This period of American history will be controversial for decades to come, but this book is a remarkable look at a dark and terrible moment.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This is not the type of books that I normally read, but the January 6th insurrection is an important event in American History. I figured this would be an interesting book to read.

This book tells what lead up to the January 6th insurection. It was really interesting and well written.

They want to kill americans provide insight into the context of the January 6th insurrection. The author provides context to what built up to this moment, including the development of extremist right-wing groups, the cult of MAGA, and other considerations for why the insurrection occurred. It provided great research and historical context. However, I felt that this person had a slightly rose colored glasses approach to the democrats, failing to criticize or critique their roles in the current climate in America. Overall very informative and intersting book.

“One of the reasons political upheaval often flashes out from insurrections is that the government in power fails to recognize the severity of the threat. In an effort to maintain an image of calm, national cohesiveness, and political comity, democratic governments fall to radical revolutionary communists, fascists, and illiberal warlords because they refuse to allow that a successful insurgency is ever possible.”

That quote sums up this book so much better than I ever could. Malcolm Nance did an amazing job of researching and compiling the information and the signs they were ignored that led up to the January 6th insurrection. It had narrative sections to break up the straight informative sections that can feel overwhelming sometimes. If you’re looking for a book to show to someone who is more conservative, it will probably feel more like an attack to them than an explanation of your side, so I wouldn’t recommend it in that sense, but it is overall a very good and informative read about how these extremist ideologies target vulnerable people to draw them to their “side.”

A must-read for anyone who cares about democracy, especially now. As we again have to come to terms with the fact that a large portion of this country would re-elect Trump, who has 91 felony counts against him. Malcolm Nance's book is both important and frightening.

Nance expertly walks us through the ideology of insurrectionist militias and similarly minded groups to explain the power grab that presents as a national discourse. Painstakingly walking the reader through conspiracy theories and disillusionment, is it enough for the nation to heed his warning? Nance presents the same candor and directness that he provides in various media appearances, and this straightforward style is helpful in cutting to the chase. How the nation finds itself in such discourse is not a great surprise, given our history. Those that follow this vein will find the narrative familiar, but for the initiated, it is an informative recounting of a harsh reality. Having not read Nance's work before, it is unclear if his penchant for long quotes is a style or the best delivery method. This choice takes away from the narrative, and the context gets lost in long monologues. The conclusion is more open-ended than expected, but the epilogue helped bring it together in an unexpected way. The book lends an important message and is well worth the read.

As this isn't my usual book of choice, reading and digesting its content took me a while. It's an important book, not only for those living within the divisions and lines of the United States of America but for those living in countries where political disruption has led to social division. Time and time again, we see history carve itself in stone in the same reiterations of division, and this book explains one occurrence of its defacing.

Nance dissects and unravels the lead-up to January 6th, a day that has become such a namesake that all I have to do is say it. We all know what took place; we all saw how the country was pulled apart along party lines, a tactic envisioned before Trump, before democracy. Nance, a counter-terrorist expert, and member of US intelligence, walks the political lines in recounting how Trump worked his grip into a power stronghold made of far-right supporters and the means it has allowed itself to gain control in the republican party.

This book is a warning. In recounting our history and explaining our pathways, Nance warns us of a future where power lies dormant in the majority, held tight by old world views staunch by far-right leaders. A fascinating book if you want a dissection of historical and political events.

For someone who is not often one to read in this genre, this could be very dense, pack filled with information so it could be overbearing at times.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, for the review copy.

Offff this was a hard one to read but overall done very well. Please keep in mind the heavy topics before starting this one! This books explores so many different angles into Trump, his campaign, his supporters, and most importantly, the riot. It draws scary (but valid) comparisons to other domestic terror groups which gave me chills while reading. Uncovering the different dangers and threats in this country is the main theme/purpose of this book and it was done in a very clear and concise way.

This book is alarming and a must-read for everyone who wants to fight for democracy and human rights in the US. It's very well-researched and gives an accurate account of the groups and authority figures who organized and led the wanna-be coup on January 6th, 2021.

Whew. That was heavy but so, so necessary. Please excuse me while I recommend this book to everyone I know. It is very stressful to realize what is going on in the underbelly of America and how they went from a bunch of losers in basements to actually joining the Congress of the United States. There was a great deal of info about the events leading up to 2016 and the history of white supremacy groups and how they have evolved grew into a serious threat to our country today.

They Want to Kill Americans The Militias Terrorists and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency by Malcolm Nance

309 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: July 12, 2022

Nonfiction (Adult), Politics, Society Issues, Militias, Terrorists, Insurrection

The book is divided into the following parts and chapters.

Part I: Threat Assessment
Chapter 1: Surprise Attack on Democracy
Chapter 2: The Goals of the Trump Insurgency

Part II: The Threats – American Insurgents
Chapter 3: The American Terrorists of TITUS
Chapter 4: TITUS’s Street-Enforcers Wing
Chapter 5: TITUS’s Armed-Militias Wing
Chapter 6: Treasonous Praetorians
Chapter 7: How the Insurgents Are Radicalized
Chapter 8: Make America Burn Again

Part III: The Deranged Ideology of the Orange Jihad
Chapter 9: Q-Anon and the Weaponization of Trump Cultism
Chapter 10: Q-Anon and the Coronavirus Suicide Cult
Chapter 11: Q Takes Over TITUS

Part IV: Final Warning
Chapter 12: The Trump Insurgency Begins
Chapter 13: Assessment – America in Mortal Danger

Malcolm Nance does an amazing job chronicling the terrorist attacks against Americans. Most of the book is concentrated on and around events leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol. He uses the acronym TITUS – Trump Insurgency in the United States. If you are interested in American history or domestic terrorism, you will enjoy this book.

Excellent, insightful book about the January 6, 2021 historical events that shocked America and the world. I learned a lot about these people that call themselves Amercia but seem to have forgotten where their ancestots came from. A must-read for those who want to be more aware of the path our country might take if we do not wake up the population.

As usual, I love to hear/read Malcom Nance's take on current events and political events. He has such a clear and logical way of evaluating events that occur in the US and around the world. Mr. Nance brings his wealth of experience to the conversation each time he engages on a subject. Over the past several years he has been on the forefront of the anti-MAGA movement with a reasonable opinion that is based on provable facts.
When it comes to taking apart the events of January 6th, 2021, I think most people can appreciate his conclusions and explanations of the day. Whether you agree with his positions or not, from a political agenda, I think it is clear that he bases his opinions in factual data. This book does just that. It lays out the events leading to and occurring that were an attempt to overthrow our governmental system of a democratic republic and the peaceful transfer of power.
Highly recommend this book!
#TheyWantToKillAmericans #NetGalley #StMartinsPress #MalcomNance

This is a powerful book that takes an unbiased look at the events leading up to January 6th, the attach on the Capital, and the aftermath told by best selling author Malcolm Nance. Nance has years of experience in the intelligence community with a focus in counter-terrorism and has been deployed to areas of conflict around the world.

Reading this book scared me in so many ways - this wasn't fiction or a history book I was reading but about current and ongoing events in America. There was so much more that has happened that I wasn't even aware of. This is a must read for anyone who truly wants to understand what lead to the rise of insurgency in this country.

Thank you to NetGalley, Malcolm Nance, and St. Martin's Press for providing me an advanced reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

RATING: 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book goes over all the reasons why January 6th occurred. It discusses events before January 6th in chronological order and lays out all the research so that the reader clearly knows how this almost coup of our democracy could have happened.

This is also a stark warning that the issues really haven’t gone away and could happen again as our democracy is very fragile due to all of this.

I really appreciated the amount of research that went into this book and enjoyed the read even though it was like a punch to the gut reading it.

Thanks to Netgalley, publisher and author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I think Nance has delineated some important and scary information about domestic terrorism but I found it to be repetitive. Still people should take a look at this. He is a terrorism expert and it is meticulously footnoted

This was a tough but important book to read, I wish I would have read it closer to pub date as I'd like it to get a lot more attention. Touching, moving, and important, this is a book everyone should read.

Like most Americans, I watched in horror on January 6, 2021, as these horrific events unfolded at the seat of our Democracy. Like many Americans, I wondered how these horrific events could happen in our beautiful country. It felt like a horrible nightmare. In this book, Malcolm Nance gives a very informative view of the evils lurking in our democracy. With his counterintelligence background, Nance methodically presents an assessment of this threat to our democracy. He covers the origins of many of these hate groups and how they have drawn in followers. This book is a must-read for all Americans that cares about saving our democracy.

Thanks to Netgalley, St Martin's Press & Malcolm Nance for this advance copy of this book.