Descendents React to Former Oath Keeper Wearing Punk Band’s T-Shirt During January 6 Hearings

Descendents took to social media on Tuesday (July 12) to publicly distance themselves from far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers after their name got dragged into the discourse around the January 6 committee hearings in Congress.

“We completely disavow groups like the Oath Keepers and in no way condone their hateful ideology,” the band wrote in a succinct statement on its official Twitter account.

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The tweet came in response to merch from the California punk rockers being spotted on Jason Van Tatenhove, the Oath Keepers’ former spokesperson, as he gave his testimony in front of the House Select Committee on Tuesday afternoon.

“Am I hallucinating that this Oath Keeper testifying before congress is wearing a Descendents t-shirt? I just had hernia surgery so this may be the painkillers,” tweeted author and podcast host Chris Gethard as he watched the seventh day of the hearings on the insurrection that took place at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to thwart the certification of electoral votes formalizing President Biden’s victory.

Wearing the Descendents shirt under a denim jacket, Van Tatenhove characterized the Oath Keepers as a “violent militia” and warned the committee that he “fear[s] what the next election cycle will bring” should Donald Trump make another bid for the presidency.

“I think we’ve gotten exceedingly lucky that more bloodshed did not happen because the potential has been there from the start,” he said after taking an audible breath. “And we got very lucky that the loss of life was — as tragic as it is — that we saw on January 6th the potential was so much more…Regardless of the human impact, what else is [Trump] gonna do if he gets elected again? All bets are off at that point.”

In May, Descendents helped debut Tony Hawk’s first-ever Weekend Jam by headlining the new festival along with Modest Mouse and Devo.

Read the Descendents’ statement on the Oath Keepers below.

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