Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth has turned himself in to authorities after participating in the pro-Trump mob riot at the United States Capitol on January 6 when Electoral College votes for now-elected President Joe Biden were certified.
WishTV reports that the FBI has confirmed that Schaffer turned himself in around 3 p.m. ET.
Photos from inside the Capitol at the time of the riot surfaced online from news media photographers and journalists who were also inside, documenting the now historic attack.
In a widely circulated photo, seen above, Schaffer was one of many contestants and fans quickly recognized him as the founder of Iced Earth, immediately tagging authorities on Twitter while revealing his identity to them.
In the hours and days after the uprising, the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI worked to identify dozens of perpetrators, sharing online images of the afternoon’s violent outbreak. The photo showing Schaffer was one of those images where he was labeled a “person of interest” by police for the crime of unlawful entry. The same photo was used by the FBI, who subsequently declared him a “most wanted” target.
The photo shows Schaffer in a blue hoodie, black fingerless gloves and a hat that says “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member.” The Oath Keepers is a far-right anti-government militia organization that was founded in 2009.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that regularly identifies hate groups and other domestic threats to politeness, said this of the Oath Keepers:
The Oath Keepers, claiming the membership of tens of thousands of current and former law enforcement and military veterans, is one of the largest radical anti-government groups in the US today. While it claims to only defend the constitution, the entire organization is based on a series of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy Americans’ freedoms.
Prior to the events of Jan. 6, Schaffer, who lives in Indiana, was in Washington DC at a pro-Trump rally on Nov. 15, eight days after the presidential race for Joe Biden was called. While there, he spoke on video to the German media The world, about his reasons for attending the meeting and his thoughts on the potential for violence in the meeting.
The full transcript of the posted interview (via Blabbermouth) is replicated in its entirety below.
My name is Jon Schaffer. I am from Indiana.
A group of thugs and criminals hijacked this country long ago. Now they are making their big move, and it won’t happen. And that’s it. These are globalists. These are the scum of the earth. These are the criminals who are behind all the fraudulent charges of currency, they are behind all the wars, they are behind all the shit, they are behind divide and conquer tactics, behind the racial divide. It’s all bullshit, it’s all rubbish.
People have to wake up and jump out of the matrix because they are going down. They have taken the step. They’re playing with the wrong people here – believe me. And we needed to be that open – outright fraud, outright theft. Because we see you now and you go down. Mark my words.
If anyone wants to bring violence, I think many of us are ready. We don’t want to, but if they bring it, we’ll respond – trust me.
I think this goes beyond President Trump. President Trump is a populist. He’s not your typical Republican. He is not established. He’s not going to start wars everywhere like her. What’s funny – where are all the Democrats who were anti-war?
There is so much hatred for Trump, it is just ridiculous. He’s dealing with a criminal mafia that, frankly, has been in the shadows for a long time. They want to destroy all of our sovereignty and create world government.
We don’t have it. We can still do business together, the countries can still have peace, but we’re not going to get lost in some globalist, communist system. It will not happen. A lot of blood will be shed when it comes down to it – believe me.
The American people will not go for that nonsense – once they understand what is really happening. So that’s where we stand. Nobody wants this, but they push us to a point where we have no choice.
We will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.