Harbingers
What January 6 and Charlottesville Reveal About Rising Threats to American Democracy
by Timothy J. Heaphy
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Pub Date Dec 31 2024 | Archive Date Dec 15 2024
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Description
“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 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 take, 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.
Advance Praise
“Tim’s insights can help restore faith in our democratic institutions.” — Barbara McQuade, author of Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America
“Whether January 6 serves as an historic wake-up call will depend on how people of goodwill respond to the challenge. Read his book, and then do your part.” — Adam Kinzinger, author of Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country
“Timothy Heaphy had backstage passes to two of the most historic and troubling armed conflicts in recent America: Charlottesville and January 6. His blow-by-blow accounts are fascinating. His understanding of why these events happened is unmatched. His ideas about our country’s future should be listened to by all.” — John Grisham
“Heaphy distills the common lessons of two stains on our history to tell us what happened and how we all can do better — governments, social media providers, and ordinary citizens. His deeply informed work is essential reading for all who hope to learn from the past so we don’t repeat it.” — Former FBI director James Comey, author of A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership
“Riveting. Heaphy analyzes dimensions of new threats to the American constitutional order that have not been seriously examined yet: the use of social media for purposes of spreading propaganda and planning political violence and the unpreparedness of law enforcement to reply to this virulent new peril. This is 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
“Heaphy takes us inside his search for the root causes of two violent alt-right-inspired attacks, and amid our nation’s bitter political divisions, he offers a hopeful message of how to combat the misinformation and isolation that fomented both.” — Carol Leonnig, author of I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year
“Heaphy’s unique role as leader of investigations into both the 2017 violence in Charlottesville and the January 6 assault on the US Capitol has given him keen insights into the political divisions, collapse of public trust, and failures of government that bedevil America today. In this highly readable book, he shares his lessons learned and points constructive paths forward toward a healthier and more hopeful future.” — David Von Drehle, author of The Book of Charlie: Wisdom from the Remarkable American Life of a 109-Year-Old Man
“Harbingers is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the toxic ideologies and violent threats lurking just beneath the surface of our fractured politics. Heaphy unflinchingly examines the forces that lead to Charlottesville and presents the historic January 6 Select Committee’s investigative work through the lens of disinformation, racism, and multiple failings among political and law enforcement leaders.” — Nicolle Wallace, host of MSNBC’s Deadline: White House
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781586424015 |
PRICE | $30.00 (USD) |
PAGES | 288 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Timothy Heaphy was the lead investigator on the teams looking into the Charlottesville Unite the Right 'rally' as well as the Capitol riots on January 6, 2021. In this important book, he isn't attempting to rehash what's already in the existing reports about these events, but explaining what lessons can be learned from them going forward. This is an effort to take a hard look at the issues that led to these events, the failures of law enforcement, political leaders and others, the role of social media in spreading disinformation, and how these failures can be addressed. He is clear-eyed about the difficulties of some things, given the free speech protections in the US Constitution.
While the focus of this book is the two particular events in the subtitle, the issues he describes are far more broad and will no doubt be useful in future. Moreover, some of the failures and lessons learned can be useful to people outside the US. They will have their own specific cultural and societal circumstances, but the social media problem in particular is a global problem. There are no easy solutions here, but Heaphy provides a concise and compelling argument about what has allowed events like these to occur, what issues need to be addressed, and why these things matter now more than ever.