Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer was arrested on January 17th, 2021 for his involvement in the American Capitol riots. Now his lawyer has revealed that Schaffer had feces and urine thrown at him in jail and received death threats from other inmates.
A scathing article published by the Indianapolis Star has detailed Schaffer’s March detention hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The report quotes Schaffer’s attorney Marc J. Victor saying, “my client, who is presumed innocent, has just gone through two months of hell where other people were throwing feces at him and urine at him and threatening his life in a horrible, horrible situation,”
“Shame on us, Judge, that this is happening in our justice system.”
However, the same article states that Schaffer was placed in “administrative segregation” while in the jail, with no contact at all with other inmates. A spokesperson for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office confirmed this saying that Schaffer had remained isolated during his entire stay at the jail.
Schaffer was originally charged with six crimes in relation to the Capitol riot, and he has pleaded guilty to two. The two charges he pleaded guilty to are obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress; and trespassing on restricted grounds of the Capitol while armed with a deadly or dangerous weapon. The musicians admitted to carrying bear spray into the Capitol, as he and others stormed the building.
The first charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, while the second carries up to a 10-year prison term.
Schaffer was held at the Marion County Jail after being arrested in January before authorities transported him mid-March to Washington D.C., in mid-March, the district where he faces the charges.
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Following his arrest, Schaffer’s Iced Earth bandmates publicly denounced him, writing “We absolutely DO NOT condone nor do we support riots.
“We hope that all those involved that day are brought to justice to be investigated and answer for their actions.”
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