Jason Van Tatenhove, Colorado man, testifies Oath Keepers are a 'violent militia group'

A journalist and artist living in Estes Park was a key witness before a congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Jason Van Tatenhove did not mince words.

"The Oath Keepers are a dangerous militia that is in large part fed by the ego and drive of Stuart Rhodes," he told the members of Congress and a national television audience on Tuesday.

The committee saw a video of Rhodes speaking to a group suggesting then-President Trump declare martial law in the month before the Capitol was stormed.

"For he is commander and chief, we're going to have to do it ourselves later in a much more dangerous bloody war," Rhodes yelled through megaphone in December. Then came Jan. 6.

While not at the Capitol then, Van Tatenhove was spokesman for the Oath Keepers back in 2015 and 2016. 

He met up with them in Montana at the standoff involving Clive Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management over grazing fees. He  was asked by the committee about vision of the group.

"It includes trying to get their way through lies, deceit, intimidation and through their perpetration of violence," he said.

Numerous members of the Oath Keepers have been indicted in connection to the events on Jan. 6 facing sedition and other charges. Van Tatenhove says he swept into the far right movement. Something he know regrets.

 "I have three daughters and a granddaughter. I have a granddaughter, and I fear for the world they will inherent if we don't start holding these people to account," he said. 

Van Tatenhove now has a blog and podcast called "The Colorado Switchblade."