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Jul 12, 2022 - Politics & Policy

Ex-Oath Keepers spokesperson: Jan. 6 could have been "spark that started ... Civil War"

Erin Doherty
Jason Van Tatenhove, former national spokesman for the Oath Keepers, speaks during a hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack.

Jason Van Tatenhove, former national spokesman for the Oath Keepers, speaks during a hearing of the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 attack. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Former Oath Keepers spokesperson Jason Van Tatenhove warned during Tuesday's Jan. 6 hearing that the violence of that day "could have been the spark that started a civil war."

Driving the news: "I do fear for this election cycle because who knows what that might bring," Van Tatenhove testified Tuesday during the seventh public hearing.

  • "We've gotten exceedingly lucky that there has not been more bloodshed," Van Tatenhove said, adding that "the potential was so much more."
  • Van Tatenhove, who was part of the Oath Keepers for several years, also warned that the group is a "dangerous militia."
  • The group, he said, is drifting "further and further right — into the alt-right world, into White nationalists and even straight-up racists and it came to a point where I could no longer continue to work for them."

Editor's note: This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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