Who is Jon Schaffer? 'Iced Earth' guitarist surrenders as one of the rioters guilty of wreaking havoc at Capitol
As the Capitol riots continue to make headlines with rioters being arrested, recent developments saw Jon Schaffer, the guitarist and principal songwriter of the Florida-based heavy metal band, Iced Earth put into federal custody. The 52-year-old, according to TMZ, turned himself in on Sunday. Schaffer now faces six charges in connection to the riots including— acts of physical violence in a Capitol building, violent entry, and disorderly conduct.
According to the FBI, he was allegedly among the bunch of rioters spraying Capitol police with bear spray. While the site said one such rioter was caught on camera unloading his spray nozzle, the man does not appear to be Schaffer, although it also added law enforcement believed he did spray it on the police at some stage. Attending a KISS concert in '79 all but made his desire to become a rockstar even stronger.
Who is Jon Schaffer?
Schaffer took to rock music pretty early in life after his sister introduced him to that genre. Prior to Iced Earth, Schaffer formed a band called The Rose in 1984 that had a short-lived playing span. They quickly broke up and he formed another band called Purgatory the following year. In addition to playing the rhythm guitar, Schaffer also designed the band's logo. They released their first album in 1990.
The guitarist also sings in his other project, Sons of Liberty and plays the guitar for Demons & Wizards, his collab with Blind Guardian frontman Hansi Kürsch. With Iced Earth, his last piece of work came in 2017 with the band's twelfth album 'Incorruptible.' The album sold 5,675 copies in the first week of its release in the United States.
Coming back to the latest developments, he was named as one of the rioters and was also listed as one of the many wanted individuals on FBI's list. According to NME, he was photographed at the riots wearing a hat that showed his lifetime membership to the Oath Keepers, which the site describes as "a far-right group deemed an extremist organization by the Southern Poverty Law Centre."
Iced Earth issued a statement that read, “Some of you have been concerned by our silence, which we understand. We needed some time to properly process the information and find out some facts before we made a statement,” they wrote.
"We absolutely DO NOT condone nor do we support riots or the acts of violence that the rioters were involved in on January 6th at the US Capitol building. We hope that all those involved that day are brought to justice to be investigated and answer for their actions."
Last year July, the musician attracted controversy when he told MetalSucks: Covid-19 is “a psychological warfare campaign on the people more than it is a serious pandemic”. He also added there was more than meets the eye. "Legitimate doctors and scientists are being censored and banned on YouTube constantly. It’s unbelievable levels of fraud." Schaffer's involvement in the Capitol riots comes after he attended a Trump rally in November to protest against the results of the election.