Book discussion: They want to kill Americans

The C-Span program Book TV aired an author's discussion about the book, They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency, by author Malcolm Nance. Nance argues that that another attack on U.S. soil is likely in view of what transpired in the January 6, 2021 coup attempt and the intelligence he was aware of before then. 

Nance was a counterterrorism analyst, but currently fights on the front lines with the Ukrainian army. He does that to defend what he sees as the seriously threatened eastern flank of democracy. His discussion on C-Span centers on what he sees as the seriously threatened western flank of democracy, namely the US.

The 56 minute discussion was taped on July 15, 2022 and first aired on Aug. 14.

The view that Nance takes makes my warnings about the seriousness and urgency of the threat that T**** and the Republican Party constitute feel understated. As the book title indicates, the They in his book title refers our heavily armed and very angry but deranged neighbors. He refers to Trumpism and the Republican Party as a cult.

A transcript of the program included these comments, which are at the link to the program given above.

At 17:48 Nance responded to a question about what the acronym TITUS referred to (bold emphasis added):

RIGHT. AND WHAT I WAS WATCHING WAS THESE PEOPLE ORGANIZE. NOT THE PROUD BOYS, THESE GUYS ARE EASY TO MONITOR. THESE GUYS ARE IDIOTS. THEY ARE ALL THESE WANT TO BE SPECIAL FORCES GUYS. THE PROUD BOYS ARE STREET THUGS. IT STARTED AS A GANG THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BEAT LIBERALS ON THE STREET WITH YOUR HANDS. BY GEORGE FLOYD SUMMER, EVERYBODY HAD AN AR-15. EVERYBODY WAS ROCKING BODY ARMOR. EVERYBODY WAS GOING OUT SPENDING $1000 ON A COMBAT HELMET AND WEARING SIZE 52 PENCE -- PANTS. WHAT WAS HAPPENING WAS THAT NAME , TITUS, WAS FORMING. THAT STANDS FOR TRUMP INSURGENTS IN THE UNITED STATES. IT WAS NOT BEING A BOOGALOO BOYS AND WEARING A HAWAIIAN SHORT -- A HAWAIIAN SHIRT. IT WAS NOT ABOUT BEING AN A OATH KEEPERS AND BELIEVING THE GOVERNMENT IS OUT TO GET YOU. IT WAS NOT ABOUT STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES IN WHITE SUPREMACY. THAT IS A GIVEN. IT IS ABOUT YOUR LOYALTY TO DONALD TRUMP. IF YOU ARE LOYAL TO DONALD TRUMP, YOU ALREADY SUBSCRIBE TO ALL OF THOSE THINGS. YOU HATED BLACK LIVES MATTER, ANITFA WAS AN ENEMY LIKE A KIND AND ISIS. IN YOUR HEAD, YOU MAY NEED TO HAVE A GUN BATTLE ON -- GUN BATTLE. ANOTHER THING PEOPLE WERE TALKING ABOUT, THERE IS ALWAYS THE SURVIVALIST ROLE. THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THINGS BREAKING DOWN SO BADLY, AS ONE GOOD ANALYST SAID, A WORLD WITHOUT RULE OF LAW. WHEN THERE IS A NATURAL DISASTER AND THE COPS ARE NOT THERE. YOU HAVE TO PROTECT YOURSELF. IT GOT SO BAD THERE WAS ACTUALLY A FIRE IN OREGON, JUST A NATURAL FIRE, AND THIS ONE TOWN CONVINCED ITSELF THAT ANITFA SETS THE FIRES AND WAS COMING TO THE TOWN TO SET MORE FIRES. THEY JUST JUMPED UP, GOT ALL OF THEIR GUNS, SET UP ROADBLOCKS INTO THE TOWN AND TWO BLOGGERS FROM PORTLAND DROVE INTO THIS. IT COULD HAVE BEEN DEAD -- COULD HAVE BEEN THAT. THE POLICE DID NOT ARREST ANYONE . THE POLICE DID NOT SAY PUT YOUR WEAPONS ON THE GROUND, LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS AT THE CHECKPOINT. THE POLICE WERE LIKE WOULD YOU DISPERSE? TAKE YOUR WEAPON SONG. THIS IS RIDICULOUS. I'M NOT EVEN SURE IF THEY SAID THIS IS RIDICULOUS. IT WAS, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO ROADBLOCK THESE ROADS. IT WAS ANOTHER INDICATOR OF THE MADNESS THAT WAS NOW TAKING OVER , WHAT WOULD BE, THE TITUS. WHY DO I USE THAT PHRASE? IN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY, WE LIKE PACKAGES. IT IS BETTER TO IDENTIFY YOUR THREAT WITH EQUAL TITLE. WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT. TITUS IS A PRETTY SOLID ACRONYM FOR PEOPLE WHO IT IS ALL ABOUT DONALD TRUMP. IT IS NOT ABOUT AMERICA, IT IS ABOUT A VERSION OF AMERICA THAT EXISTS RIGHT HERE. THERE IS ANY OLD STORY FROM "THE ONION," A FEW YEARS BACK, IT IS THE RECORD IN AMERICA. IT WAS "MAN PLEDGES ALLEGIANCE TO THE CONSTITUTION IN HIS HEAD ." A WILD MALONES OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS, THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, AND THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE THIS MAN THINKS IS THE CONSTITUTION. IT IS IN HIS HEAD. ALL OF THIS WAS MASS HYSTERIA STEMMING FROM THE CLERGY -- THE CRAZY WORDS OF DONALD TRUMP WHICH WAS FORMING THE WALLS ON THEIR BELIEF SYSTEM. THEN ENTER QANON WHICH IS A CRAZY GROUP. I KNOW YOU WILL GET TO THAT. THIS ALL CAME TOGETHER AND WAS READY AND POISED ON NOVEMBER 4. WHEN THEY DID NOT GET WHAT THEY WANTED, THEY DENIED REALITY. THEY BELIEVE DONALD TRUMP SHOULD DECLARE HIMSELF PRESIDENT. THEY LIT A MATCH. THAT SHOWED YOU WHO TITUS WAS. 40,000 PEOPLE. BEN SHAPIRO WHEN I SAID ON BILL MARK THAT THE PARK SERVICE HAS COUNTED THESE PEOPLE. THERE WERE 40,000 PEOPLE AT THE RALLY. DONALD TRUMP SAID ONE MILLION. 10,000 OF THEM ATTACKED AT THE CAPITAL. YOU CAN SEE IN A EASY 2000, 3000, 4000 IF YOU LOOK DOWN THE STEPS ON ONE SPOT. HE WAS LIKE, THAT IS A LIE. JULY. I REMEMBER SITTING THERE THINKING EITHER THIS IS AN ACT OR YOU NEVER LEARNED ARITHMETIC OR HE THOUGHT IT WAS ONE MILLION. HE IS A PROPAGANDIST SO HE DOES NOT KNOW. HE DOES IS LITTLE ANGRY CHIPMUNK ROUTINE. I THOUGHT, THIS IS A LEVEL OF DENIAL THAT IS DANGEROUS. YOU SAW TITUS EMERGE. THE FRONT END OF THOSE PEOPLE WHERE THE MALICIOUS AND TERRORIST GROUPS, THE PROUD BOYS. THE REST OF THEM WERE NOT MEMBERS OF THOSE GROUPS.

At 24:56 Nance talked about what the US intelligence community knew before 1/6 and what the House 1/6 Committee was disclosing at the time C-Span taped the program:

PLANNING WAS OBVIOUS TO ME. THE JANUARY 6 COMMITTEE IS JUST GETTING TO REVEALING WHAT MOST ANALYSTS WERE SEEING IN REAL-TIME PRINCIPALLY IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER. I HAVE BEEN SEEING A LOT OF THESE GUN GROUPS AND PATRIOTS, RANGE PARTY GROUPS GET TOGETHER AND START SAYING YOU HAVE GOT TO GET TACTICAL TRAINING BY THE ELECTION. THERE WERE GUN RANGES, THERE WAS AN EX NAVY SEAL RUNNING PATRIOT CLASSES. WHO NEEDS PATRIOT CLASSES IN CLOSE QUARTER BATTLE? WHO IS GOING TO HAVE TO COME THROUGH A DOOR AND CLEARED A ROOM IN AN URBAN WARFARE ENVIRONMENT? NOT SOMEONE WHO IS SHOOTING PAPER. NOT SOMEONE WHO IS TRYING TO GAIN PROFICIENCY AT IT HUNDRED YARDS. THAT IS SOMEONE WHO PLANS ON DOING BATTLE IN CLOSE QUARTERS. WE WERE SEEING ALL OF THAT AND IT WAS BECOMING FRANTIC IN THE RUN-UP TO THE ELECTION. AFTER THAT, THE ORGANIZATION OF THE LEADER OF THE CROWD WAS SPEAKING TO THE LEADER OF THE OATH KEEPERS, THAT WAS HAPPENING A LOT. THEY WERE SAYING IT, I MET WITH X AND I MET WITH Y. BY THE DECEMBER PROTESTS IN WASHINGTON, D.C. WHERE THEY WERE WILLING TO DO ARMS PROTEST -- ARMED COMBAT WITH ANITFA. THEY ARE LIKE ISIS. I AM NOT JOKING. THEIR CORE PHILOSOPHY IS IF YOU ARE NOT ONE OF US, WE CAN KILL YOU. YOU HAVE TO JOIN US TO SURVIVE. THESE GUYS WERE COORDINATED AND I HOPE THE WHOLE -- AND I HAVE A WHOLE CHAPTER OF IT WHERE THEY ARE JUST TALKING ABOUT IT THIS WEEK. THIS BOOK WAS DONE LAST AUGUST. YOU ARE READING A PRODUCT THAT WAS A YEAR AHEAD OF THESE BRIEFINGS. ANOTHER THING I DO IS I GO OUT EVEN FURTHER AS TO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN AFTER THIS. TALKING ABOUT THEM ORGANIZING IS NATURAL. IN MANY INSTANCES I HAD TO GO BACK AND SAY THERE IS A GAP OF INFORMATION HERE. THAT IS HOW THE ANALYST COMMUNITY DOESN'T, THERE ARE TWO CONVERSATIONS I AM MISSING HERE. THEY WOULD HAVE TO SAY WHATEVER IS IMPACTING THE NEXT CONVERSATION. WE COULD RE-CREATE THEIR MEETINGS AND ANOTHER JANUARY 6 HAS THEIR RECORDS AND THEY HAVE ALL OF THOSE MEETINGS AND THEY WERE AN ARMY ORGANIZING.