Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer Arrested and Charged for Participating in Capital Riot
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The heavy metal band's guitarist has been taken into custody and faces 6 charges after he was photographed among the crowd which stormed into the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

AceShowbiz - Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer has been arrested in connection with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that turned deadly on January 6. The founding member of the heavy metal band has been taken into custody after turning himself in on Sunday, January 17 at around 3 P.M., Chris Bavender, public affairs specialist for the FBI Indianapolis Field Office, confirmed.

The FBI Indianapolis Field Office released a statement regarding Jon's arrest. It read, "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.' "

The five other charges that Jon is facing include knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disrupting the orderly conduct of government business, knowingly engaging in an act of physical violence against any person or property in any restricted building or grounds, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, and parading, demonstrating, or picketing in a Capitol building.

Jon was identified among the crowd who stormed into the Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. earlier this month in a photo taken by Roberto Schmidt of AFP. In the image, the guitarist could be seen at the front of a mob, sporting a hat from Oath Keepers, an anti-government militia group, with black leather fingerless tactical gloves. He was pointing his finger while yelling at someone out of the frame.

FBI has released 40 photos of people who were suspected of unlawful entry during the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. It's believed that there are 200 people who are being investigated by FBI officials over their roles in the insurrection.

Jon has not said anything regarding his role in the riot, but his band Iced Earth's bandmates put out a statement posted on Instagram and Facebook declaring their stance in the insurrection. "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," they stated. "We hope that all those involved that day are brought to justice to be investigated and answer for their actions." The post, however, was later taken down.

Meanwhile, the band's former frontman Tim 'Ripper' Owens expressed his shock at Jon's involvement in the riot, claiming he wasn't aware of Jon's political affiliation. "All I can say is wow," so he wrote in an Instagram comment. "See we never talked politics while I was in Iced Earth because at that time we were on totally opposite sides..."

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