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

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