MAKING A STATEMENT

Punk Band Blasts ‘Hateful’ Oath Keepers After Ex-Far-Right Spox Appears in Band T-Shirt at Jan. 6 Hearing

A remorseful Jason Van Tatenhove testified before the Jan. 6 committee on Tuesday in a Descendents T-shirt, raising eyebrows on social media.

The punk band Descendents have made clear they want nothing to do with the “hateful” Oath Keepers after a former spokesman for the far-right militia appeared on national TV wearing a T-shirt for the band during his testimony about the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In a statement on Twitter, the band wrote, “We completely disavow groups like the Oath Keepers and in no way condone their hateful ideology.” Jason Van Tatenhove, who started to work with the Oath Keepers in 2014 but has since condemned the group, raised eyebrows on social media with his choice of attire during his testimony before the Jan. 6 House committee on Tuesday. Many questioned how someone once affiliated with the far-right group could embrace a punk band known for encouraging equality and condemning racism. Van Tatenhove, after leaving the Oath Keepers, says he is now involved in art and journalism, according to The New York Times. In his testimony Tuesday, he called the Oath Keepers “dangerous” and said he’d cut ties with them when he realized the some members were Holocaust deniers.