Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer has been arrested for participating in the Capitol Hill riots earlier this month.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Schaffer has been charged with crimes including engaging in violence in a restricted building and disorderly conduct.
Schaffer was reportedly photographed at the Wednesday, January 6th riot amongst members of the Pro-Trump mob.
According to NME, Schaffer was seen wearing a hat that proclaimed his membership to the Oath Keepers, a far-right group deemed to be an extremist organisation.
Prior to his arrest, Schaffer was wanted for his involvement in the riots, and Metropolitan Police in Washington D.C included him in a list of people wanted for “unrest-related offences”.
Following the riots, the remaining members of Iced Earth posted a statement on bassist Luke Appleton’s Instagram profile condemning the actions of the rioters.
Although they did not mention Schaffer explicitly, the band said they hoped “all those involved that day are brought to justice”.
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“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.”
Check out the full statement from Iced Earth following Jon Schaffer attending the Capitol Hill riot:
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