24 hours at the Capitol

24 hours at the Capitol An oral history of the January 6th insurrection

Nora Neus

Book - 2025

"The January 6th insurrection was a well-planned attack coordinated largely right out in the open. Through original interviews and reporting, this oral history offers a minute-by-minute account of the riots through the never-before-heard stories of those who were there. Emmy-nominated producer and journalist Nora Neus draws on the collaboration and support of Tim Heaphy, chief investigator of the US Congress's January 6th Select Committee; on exclusive access to the United States Capital Historical Society's oral history project on the insurrection; and on her personal contacts on the Hill to reconstruct what it was actually like inside and around the Capitol during those sobering twenty-four hours. Her narrators include high...-profile politicians and maintenance workers, Capital Hill residents and White House photographers, police officers who defended the building, and insurrectionists who have since disavowed their actions...By taking readers through the real-life events of the attack, this fast-paced, gripping narrative reveals what's at stake for the future of American democracy." --

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Subjects
2000-2099
Capitol Riot, Washington, D.C., 2021 > Personal narratives.
Political violence > Washington (D.C.) > History > 21st century.
Domestic terrorism > United States > History > 21st century.
White supremacy movements > United States > History > 21st century.
Police > Violence against > United States.
Asians > Violence against > United States.
Black people > Violence against > United States.
Asians
Black people
Domestic terrorism
Police > Violence against
Political violence > History.
White supremacy movements > History.
United States
Washington (D.C.)
Personal narratives.
Personal narratives
Genres
Personal narratives
Published
Boston : Beacon Press [2025]
Language
English
Main Author
Nora Neus (author)
Physical Description
xix, 215 pages : maps ; 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-207) and index.
ISBN
9780807020623
  • Part 1: "A year in the making"
  • "It's time for fucking war if they steal this shit"
  • "Will be wild"
  • "One million patriots"
  • Part 2: The insurrection
  • "That's exactly how Charlottesville began"
  • "Things started to get really violent"
  • "Hand-to-hand battle"
  • "Then all of a sudden we were inside"
  • "If they stop the proceedings, they will have succeeded in stopping the validation of the President of the United States"
  • "You can see the line of loss. The territory is theirs"
  • "They just killed a girl"
  • "Kill him with his own gun"
  • "It just was another level into Dante's Inferno"
  • "The mob kept attacking even while we tended to their wounded"
  • "You started to see the police officers make progress"
  • Part 3: "It's going to require a national reckoning"
  • "Do I fear another one of these happening? Absolutely."
Review by Booklist Review

The riotous January 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol, when Congress was meeting to affirm the election of Joe Biden as president, was months in the making. Seeds of insurrection were planted by conspiracy-mongers, militias, and Donald Trump himself. Through interviews with journalists who covered the white supremacist movement and the insurrection, people who were working in the Capitol that day, police who fought off the violent mob, rioters and families of those caught up in the event, and transcripts from the House committee that investigated the insurrection, Neus (24 Hours In Charlottesville, 2023) has penned a compelling oral history of this dark time in the history of the U.S. Twitter, Parler, Telegram, and other communication channels among groups like Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, along with their actions, including assembling a "Quick Reaction Force" of guns and ammunitions in Virginia, show that the deadly January 6 assault was not spontaneous or patriotic. Descriptions of air thick with bear spray, tear gas, and mace, officers being surrounded and beaten, and staffers sheltering as rioters pillaged Congressional offices effectively communicate the chaos. Current actions to whitewash the January 6 insurrection make this an especially important document.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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