Ben Hamilton: Witnessing the Insurrection

We are all living in the aftermath of January 6, 2021, the day that an angry mob of thousands of Trump supporters violently attacked the U.S. Capitol, the symbolic seat of democracy, and tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden as president of the United States.Our guest today was there – not as a protestor, but as a historian, and the result is his fascinating book, “Sorry Guys, We Stormed the Capitol.”Ben Hamilton created the Chasing History Project to try and throw himself into dangerous situations to create historical records for future history students to study. While chasing history, he was a first-hand witness to the events of January 6, and he interviewed people as they left the Capitol building to create an accurate record of what happened in those chaotic hours.Hamilton’s interviews and photographs piece together a fascinating first-person account of what happened that day, from Trump’s speech where he urged supporters to go to the Capitol, to the often crazy comments by those who did so, the actions – and inactions – of the police, and of the politicians who the mob forced into hiding until the uprising was quelled.All of it was done by this former high school history teacher so future generations will understand what happened that day. It was the culmination of Hamilton’s research for his Chasing History Project, which involved attending many rallies, both by Trump’s MAGA supporters as well as Black Lives Matter.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-lean-to-the-left-podcast--4719048/support.