Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer was arrested on Sunday afternoon after turning himself over to authorities in Indianapolis. Schaffer faces six charges, including engaging in an act of physical violence.
“Jon Schaffer, Columbus, IN, has been arrested in connection to Jan 6 incident at the U.S. Capitol. Schaffer faces 6 charges including engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building. Schaffer was allegedly among rioters who sprayed Capitol police with ‘bear spray,’” a tweet from the FBI’s Indianapolis branch read.
An outspoken conservative and Trump supporter, Schaffer was spotted among the group of rioters who stormed the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6 in a widely circulated photo (which you can see above). His participation drew the scorn of his bandmates, who released a statement speaking out against the guitarist’s actions.
“We want to thank those of you who have sent words of support in recent days,” bassist Luke Appleton wrote on Instagram last weekend. 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.
“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,” he continued before sending condolences to those directly affected by the riot. “With broken hearts we are sending our love and compassion to everyone who has felt pain from the events on January 6th. We are deeply saddened and our hearts go out to the families of the lives lost that day. There are really no proper words to console. Just know we are with you in your shock, grief and pain. Much love to you all.”
