Friend,

The House committee investigating the events surrounding the Jan. 6,
2021, insurrection focused Tuesday on the Proud Boys

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 and Oath Keepers

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, two extremist groups involved in the attempt to stop the
certification of President Joe Biden's electoral victory.

The committee detailed connections between the Oath Keepers

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 and former President Donald Trump's inner circle,
including longtime Republican strategist Roger Stone. In his opening
remarks, Rep. Jamie Raskin said, "Members of domestic violent
extremist groups created an alliance, both online and in person, to
coordinate a massive effort to storm, invade and occupy the
Capitol" in the service of Trump.

The Committee showed video of an Oath Keepers call to action for Jan.
6 and divulged their leader's chats with Trump associate Roger
Stone, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and "Stop the
Steal" organizer Ali Alexander.

Oath Keepers was founded in 2009 by Rhodes, who recruited among
veterans, first responders and law enforcement. The group had a
massive following, with members and chapters across the country.

More than 20 Oath Keepers members are facing charges stemming from the
Jan. 6 insurrection, including seditious conspiracy. 

The committee called former Oath Keeper spokesperson Jason Van
Tatenhove, who detailed in testimony to the committee his fears of
armed revolution and increasing radicalization inside the extremist
group.

Raskin asked Van Tatenhove about Oath Keepers leader Stewart
Rhodes'

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 take on the prospect of Trump calling on the Insurrection Act, a
law from 1807 that gives the president the authority to call on
militias to defend the U.S.

Van Tatenhove replied: "That was a path forward to move forward
with [Rhodes'] goals and agendas. I think we need to quit
mincing words and just talk about truths, and what it was going to be
was an armed revolution." Van Tatenhove, who worked for the Oath
Keepers in 2015 and 2016, called attention to the arms and explosives
the antigovernment group allegedly brought to Virginia

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, near Washington, D.C., ahead of the Jan. 6 riot. He also referenced
the gallows rioters built outside the U.S. Capitol, which was
allegedly meant for former Vice President Mike Pence. Rhodes had long
held desires of targeting politicians, Van Tatenhove claimed. The
former spokesperson said that one of his first assignments Rhodes gave
him as an employee was to create a deck of cards with a politician on
each card.

The deck of cards would have mimicked a similar set the U.S.
military based on Iraqi government officials

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 at the onset of the U.S. war on Iraq in 2003. The goal was to
familiarize soldiers with high-level targets.

Van Tatenhove said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a
longtime target of far-right conspiracy theories

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, was set to be the Queen of Hearts. Van Tatenhove said he declined to
make the set.

The alleged deck of cards is in line with Oath Keepers' tactic
of appealing to former military members. The military itself has
struggled to deal with extremism in its ranks

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 in recent years.

He said Rhodes was always looking for legitimacy trying to claim the
militia group was instead simply a veterans' support group.

Van Tatenhove said he left the group when they became so extreme that
members openly discussed denying the Holocaust in a grocery store.

Raskin asked Van Tatenhove about his concerns regarding future
violence from the Oath Keepers.

Given the Oath Keepers' extensive training and events such as
the 2014 Bundy Ranch standoff,

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where antigovernment extremists confronted federal law enforcement
over rancher Cliven Bundy's grazing fees, Van Tatenhove said
there was potential for worse political violence in the coming years.

"I do fear for this next election cycle because who knows what
that might bring if, if a president is willing to try to ...
encourage ... a civil war amongst his followers."

In solidarity,
 
The Southern Poverty Law Center

 

 


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