Storm at the Capitol: An Oral History of January 6th

Associated Press congressional reporter Jalonick debuts with a gripping, fast-paced account of the 2020 election certification as it was disrupted by a furious mob of Trump supporters. She follows events through the perspectives of Congress members and their staff, her fellow journalists (Jalonick herself was holed up in the House gallery), Metropolitan and Capitol police officers, and the rioters. The result reads like a surreal nightmare, with senators and representatives running for their lives; Nancy Pelosi’s staff hiding as rioters call, “Where are you, Nancy?” like in “a horror movie”; and furniture being used as a “makeshift barricade.” The book captures the overwhelming panic and fear, detailing the sounds of rioters shattering glass and pounding on doors (“I could hear that pounding for weeks,” says one Democratic staff director). Police officers provide some of the most agonizing recollections as they engage in “hand-to-hand combat” with club- and knife-wielding combatants. With “around 140” officers injured, many recall feeling as if they were going to die. Juxtaposed are responses from the rioters, a number still defiant (“I wanted them to be afraid”). Jalonick spotlights the quick thinking of Senate staff who protected the ballot boxes of electoral votes and the officers who led rioters away from congresspeople (“The main reason rioters didn’t harm any member of Congress was because they didn’t encounter any,” says Rep. Stephanie Murphy). It’s a sobering rebuke of those who downplay the deadly serious intent of the January 6 attack. (Jan.)