The public land standoffs never ended. Jan. 6 was a sequel.
focused on the link between the Trump White House and the far-right militia groups that participated in the Capitol riot, so it makes sense that a former member of one of those militias would testify.
Jason van Tatenhove, a former spokesman for the Oath Keepers—a group of self-appointed vigilantes who were instrumental in storming the Capitol—told the House committee that the actions of the group on Jan. 6 provided “a glimpse” of their vision. The group had actively hoped for the chance to participate in a violent insurrection like the kind staged in the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency.
Van Tatenhove would know. Sitting before Congress in a Descendants T-shirt and jean jacket adorned with punk pins, the former Oath Keeper told the committee that his association with the group began back in 2014, when he arrived as an “independent journalist” at the Bundy Ranch standoff in the Nevada desert. He was quickly sucked into the cause.
For 20 years, Bundy had refused to pay the required fees to the federal Bureau of Land Management that he owed for grazing his cattle on public land. So, in April 2014, the BLM attempted to round up Bundy’s cattle as a penalty for non-payment. It was a repossession: Bundy hadn’t paid his bills, and the government came to collect.
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