Whereas some musicians were not too worried about being associated with the Capitol riots that took place on January 6 of last year, others don’t even want to be mentioned in the same sentence. This is especially true of the punk band Descendents.
As it happens, a Descendents t-shirt was worn by one of the rioters, Jason Van Tatenhove, during a hearing. He is known as the former spokesman for the far-right extremist group the Oath Keepers. The band took to Twitter to share their opinion of the situation, writing, “We completely disavow groups like the Oath Keepers and in no way condone their hateful ideology.”
We completely disavow groups like the Oath Keepers and in no way condone their hateful ideology.
— DESCENDENTS (@descendents) July 12, 2022
People on Twitter were quick to call out the hypocrisy of being both a Descendents fan and a far-right extremist: “Tell me this Trump supporting rioter who is about to testify to the Jan 6th committee is not wearing a @descendents shirt. There is nothing further from punk rock than a right wing nationalist supporting a billionaire elitist politician. Poser,” one user wrote.
Tell me this Trump supporting rioter who is about to testify to the Jan 6th committee is not wearing a @descendents shirt. There is nothing further from punk rock than a right wing nationalist supporting a billionaire elitist politician. Poser.
— katieironthumbs (@katieironthumbs) July 12, 2022
While testifying, Tatenhove said about the Oath Keepers, “They may not like to call themselves a militia, but they are, they’re a violent militia. In my opinion, the Oath Keepers are a very dangerous organization.”