First published 2022
Michael Fanone examines the fractured state of American democracy through his experience as a twenty-year police veteran who nearly died defending the Capitol on January 6, 2021. A former Trump supporter who describes himself as a redneck, Fanone deployed himself to the Capitol that day and found himself pulled into the mob of insurrectionists. They tased him until he suffered a heart attack and beat him with a Blue Lives Matter flag while crowds called for his death. Fanone uses this traumatic experience as a launching point to explore critical national issues including policing, race, and politics. His perspective has been shaped by years as an undercover detective and his friendship with a Black, transgender, HIV-positive informant who helped him reconsider his approach to law enforcement. The book serves as both personal testimony about the events of January 6th and a broader examination of American society's challenges, written by someone who has witnessed these issues from multiple angles within the system.
Genres: american, political-science, crime, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, current-affairs, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: personal-testimony, redemption-arc
Setting: United States, US Capitol
Period: 2021
256 pages · Hardcover · Atria Books
Content warnings: violence