In one of the most substantive Jan 6th hearings, former Oath Keepers spokesman Jason Van Tatenhove warns us about the close call and more.
Jason Van Tatenhove dings Oath Keepers
I watched the entire hearing today. It was clear that Donald Trump was the orchestrator of the January 6th attempted coup on the United States.
The hearing dissected a meeting that Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, described as unhinged. Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s attorney Sidney Powell, and other sycophants shouted down White House attorney Pat Cipollone. Giuliani went ballistic as Cipollone talked down their coup planning.
The coup started at the top. What we should all find disturbing is that there was an army that, had they planned the coup competently, would have created a war. The testimony from Jason Van Tatenhove is likely the most enlightening of the day. At one point he got upset with the failure to word the coup activities appropriately as he also described Oath Keepers’ founder Stewart Rhodes‘ involvement.
“I think we need to quit mincing words and just talk about truths. And what it was going to be was an armed revolution,” Jason Van Tatenhove said. “I mean, people died that day. Law enforcement officers did this. There was a gallows set up in front of the Capitol. This could have been the spark that started a new civil war and no one would have won there. That would have been good for no one. He was always looking for ways to legitimize what he was doing, whether by wrapping it in the trappings of it’s not a militia, it’s a community preparedness team. We’re not a militia. We’re an educational outreach group. It’s a veteran support group. But again, we’ve got to stop with this dishonesty in the mentioning of words and just call things for what they are. You know he is a militia leader. He had these grand visions of being a paramilitary leader and the Insurrection Act would have given him a path forward with that. You know, the fact that the president was communicating, whether directly or indirectly messaging, you know, kind of that gave him the nod. And all I can do is thank God that things did not go any worse that day.”
And then came the former Oath Keepers’ warning.
“I think we’ve gotten exceedingly lucky that more bloodshed did not happen because the potential has been there from the start,” Van Tatenhove said. “And we got very lucky that the loss of life was and as tragic as it is that we saw on January 6th, the potential was so much more. Again, all we have to look at is the iconic images of that day with the gallows set up for Mike Pence, the vice president of the United States. And I do fear for this next election cycle because who knows what that might bring if a president that’s willing to try to instill and encourage to whip up a civil war among his followers using lies and deceit and snake oil, and regardless of the human impact, what else is he going to do if he gets elected again? All bets are off at that point. And that’s a scary notion. I have three daughters, I have a granddaughter, and I fear for the world that they will inherit if we do not start holding these people to account.”
America, are you listening? We better.
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