Iced Earth leader Jon Schaffer is on trial on six charges of the rioting at the US Capitol building in Washington DC on January 6.
After being taken down by angry protesters storming the Capitol when the US Congress convened to confirm Joe Biden’s victory in the November presidential election, Schaffer surrendered to the authorities on the afternoon of January 17, according to a statement by the FBI Indianapolis Field Office. The guitarist, who lives in Columbus, Indiana, will now face six criminal charges for the violent protests in which five lives were lost.
According to the FBI Indianapolis Field Office, the six charges against Schaffer are:
1) knowingly enters or resides in any restricted building or site without legal authority
2) disrupt the orderly actions of state-owned enterprises
3) To be scientifically involved in an act of physical violence against any person or property in any restricted building or site
4) Violent intrusion and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building
5) Participate in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building
6) Parade, demonstrate or picket in a Capitol building
In connection with charge number five, Schaffer was allegedly an extra strong form of pepper spray among rioters who sprayed Capitol police ‘bear spray’.
More than 200 people are currently being investigated by the FBI in connection with the scenes of insurgent violence on January 6.
In the wake of the violent clashes in DC, Schaffer’s band members issued a statement expressing their opposition to the worrying scenes in the Capitol.
“We are absolutely NOT giving well and do not support riots or the violence that the rioters were involved in on January 6 at the US Capitol building,” they wrote. “We hope that all those involved will be brought to justice that day to investigate and answer for their actions.”
Jon Schaffer, Columbus, IN, was arrested in connection with the January 6 incident at the U.S. Capitol. Schaffer faces six charges, including committing physical violence in a Capitol building. Schaffer was allegedly among rioters who sprayed Capitol police with “bear spray”.18 January 2021