Publishers Weekly
★ 09/20/2021
Pulitzer finalist Lehr (Dead Reckoning) delivers a dramatic chronicle of a domestic terrorist plot thwarted by the FBI. At the heart of the story is Dan Day, an out-of-work probation officer in Garden City, Kans., who in 2015 became an informant for the FBI on right-wing militia groups in southwestern Kansas. In retaliation for the ISIS-inspired attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., members of one of those groups, the local division of the Kansas Security Force, plotted to bomb an apartment building and mosque in Garden City where Somali Muslims lived and worshipped. Day recorded his conversations with the plotters and introduced them to an undercover FBI agent posing as a black-market arms dealer; thanks to Day’s testimony, three KSF members were eventually convicted and sentenced to long prison terms. Lehr skillfully draws from Day’s recordings to highlight the risks he took (at one point, he got sick and passed out at a militia meeting with a recording device in his pocket), and weaves in illuminating details about the cultural dynamics of the Midwest and moving profiles of Somali refugees who could have been killed in the attack. The result is a chilling and finely wrought portrait of the threat of political extremism. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
When we wonder about the how and why of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, White Hot Hate begins to provide an explanation. It is riveting and revelatory.” — Ibram X. Kendi, National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist
“White Hot Hate is a well-written, deeply reported account of how a group of right-wing extremists living in Kansas came together to plot terrorist attacks, and it couldn’t be more timely now.” — Peter Bergen, author of The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden
“White Hot Hate is both a fascinating primer on radicalization and a page-turning, cinematic legal thriller. Encouraged by a white supremacist presidential candidate fomenting fear of immigrant ‘infestation,’ a small group of extremists plots an attack that would have caused more death and destruction than the horrific 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. A single witness to their plot manages to stop it, saving hundreds of lives and serving as a model of moral courage. The story teaches us about the potential power of a single, valiant voice.” — Jessica Stern, author of Terror in the Name of God and member of the Homeland Security Experts Group
“Lehr is a seasoned journalist whose distinguished career includes crisply probed accounts of organized crime bosses and police brutality coverups. In this report, his lucid investigative prowess once again creates a dramatic tapestry of hate, hope, and justice. He also offers a cautionary reminder about the pervasive presence of political extremism in America.” — Kirkus Reviews, (starred review)
“Pulitzer finalist Lehr delivers a dramatic chronicle of a domestic terrorist plot thwarted by the FBI…. The result is a chilling and finely wrought portrait of the threat of political extremism.” — Publishers Weekly, (starred review)
Peter Bergen
White Hot Hate is a well-written, deeply reported account of how a group of right-wing extremists living in Kansas came together to plot terrorist attacks, and it couldn’t be more timely now.”
Ibram X. Kendi
When we wonder about the how and why of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, White Hot Hate begins to provide an explanation. It is riveting and revelatory.”
Jessica Stern
White Hot Hate is both a fascinating primer on radicalization and a page-turning, cinematic legal thriller. Encouraged by a white supremacist presidential candidate fomenting fear of immigrant ‘infestation,’ a small group of extremists plots an attack that would have caused more death and destruction than the horrific 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. A single witness to their plot manages to stop it, saving hundreds of lives and serving as a model of moral courage. The story teaches us about the potential power of a single, valiant voice.”
Library Journal
10/01/2021
Former Boston Globe reporter Lehr (journalism, Boston Univ.) tells the incredible story of a white supremacist terrorism plot in Garden City, KS, and the man who helped foil it. In 2016, Dan Day was invited by a former coworker to join the Three Percenters, a right-wing militia group, but he was alarmed by their animosity toward the Somali community in their Kansas farming town. When local FBI agents told Day they were monitoring the group, he agreed to help infiltrate it. He was drawn deeper into a militia rabbit hole over eight months and met three men who formed the Crusaders, an offshoot of the Three Percenters. Day briefed the FBI as the Crusaders tested bomb materials and planned an attack on a mosque; they were arrested before they could carry it out. Lehr had access to trial transcripts and interviewed Day, as well as FBI agents Amy Kuhn and Robin Smith, for this terrifying story that closely examines the radical belief systems of American white supremacist groups. VERDICT A strong addition to true crime sections, this disturbing work will also appeal to readers interested in the development of modern hate groups.—Amelia Osterud, Milwaukee P.L.
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2021-09-29
How an ordinary American citizen thwarted the sinister plot of a homegrown militant hate group at the dawn of the Trump era.
Investigative journalist Lehr tells the story of Dan Day, a lifelong Kansan family man and unemployed former probation officer who, in 2015, infiltrated a local militia group as their “intelligence officer” while reporting their conspiracy plots to the FBI. In the wake of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando, perpetrated by a young man who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, a tightly knit terrorist militia group calling itself the Kansas Security Force sought retaliation against the concentrated Somali Muslim population of Garden City. They planned to bomb an apartment building and a mosque. Using sworn testimonies, federal court documents, and more than 100 hours of Day’s hidden audio and video camera recordings, Lehr chronicles the entire ordeal with seamless ease, studding the narrative with numerous moments of taut true-crime tension. Day was fully immersed in KSF, gaining the trust of the three key “Crusaders”—Patrick Stein, Curtis Allen, and Gavin Wright—and he introduced them to “Brian,” an undercover FBI agent posing as an arms dealer. The author expertly captures these moments with vivid imagery and often frightening detail, and he clearly shows the true criminal nature of the terrorist mindset and how conspiracy plots are hatched and developed. He also profiles the lives of Somali citizens in Garden City, the refugee experience, and how that community thrives despite the ever present fear of racist violence. Lehr is a seasoned journalist whose distinguished career includes crisply probed accounts of organized crime bosses and police brutality coverups. In this report, his lucid investigative prowess once again creates a dramatic tapestry of hate, hope, and justice. He also offers a cautionary reminder about the pervasive presence of political extremism in America.
Comprehensive, riveting reportage on the enduring fight against domestic terrorism and racial violence.
