One of the most prominent photos coming out of last week's riots on Capitol Hill was the photo that displayed Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer inside the Capitol with other rioters. Local D.C. police authorities listed him as a "Person of Interest", and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (that's the FBI) has put up a post in their "Most Wanted" section, and the photo of Schaffer is among those listed. Despite all of that, Schaffer has yet to be officially charged.
IndyStar, an Indianapolis publication reached out to the FBI's Indianapolis field office, who declined to comment specifically about Schaffer's involvement, or anybody else from Indiana.
"Like FBI field offices across the country, FBI Indianapolis is receiving tips regarding Hoosiers who may have been at the Capitol building in Washington, DC Jan. 6," Chris Bavender, an FBI Indianapolis spokeswoman, said in a statement. "Any subjects that are arrested/indicted will be prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC."
IndyStar attempted to contact Schaffer by phone and email to no response. The newspaper reports that court records show Schaffer has not been charged with a federal crime.
German newspaper Die Welt recently published video footage of Schaffer marching in a separate November Trump protest, who offered almost prophetic words on what would end up happening a few months later.
The video captures Schaffer wearing the same 1776 hoodie he was photographed in during the Capitol riots, and features him wearing a vest with a black and white photo of Trump photoshopped on the Terminator 2 bicycle, with a shotgun and the phrase "Drain the Swamp" on it.
The video begins with Schaffer openly identifying himself. “My name is Jon Schaffer. I’m from Indiana. A group of thugs and criminals hijacked this country a long time ago. Now they’re making their big move, and it’s not gonna happen. And that’s what it is. These are globalists. These are the scum of the earth. These are the criminals that are behind all the fraudulent fee on currency, they’re behind all the wars, they’re behind all the shit, they’re behind divide-and-conquer tactics, behind the racial divide. It’s all nonsense, it’s all garbage. People need to wake up and snap out of the matrix, because they’re going down. They’ve made the move. They’re messing with the wrong people here — trust me on that. And we needed it to be open like this — open fraud, open theft. Because now we see you, and you’re going down. Mark my words.”
Asked if there would be violence, Schaffer responded “If somebody wants to bring violence, I think there’s a lot of us here that are ready for it. We don’t want that, but if they bring it, we’re gonna respond to that — trust me.”
After defending Trump as a populist who is not establishment, Schaffer goes on to promise "bloodshed" if the "criminal mafia" "running the world" doesn't step aside, saying “I think this goes beyond President Trump. President Trump is a populist. He’s not your typical Republican. He’s not establishment. He’s not going out starting wars all over the place, like they do. Which is funny — where are all the Democrats that were anti-war? There’s so much hatred for Trump, it’s just ridiculous. He’s dealing with a criminal mafia that has been in the shadows running the world, frankly, for a very long time.
He continued "They wanna destroy all of our sovereignty and bring about global government. We’re not having it. We can still do business together, the countries can still be at peace, but we’re not gonna merge into some globalist, communist system. It will not happen. There will be a lot of bloodshed, if it comes down to that — trust me. The American people will not go for that bullshit — once they understand what’s actually happening. So, that’s where we’re at. Nobody wants this, but they’re pushing us to a point where we have no choice.”
Schaffer has previously identified as “a constitutional conservative.” In a Facebook chat earlier this year, he said "People think they don't have any power, but they have a tremendous amount of power — I mean, an unbelievable amount of power," Schaffer added. "The system and the control grid wants to make you feel like you have no power and they enforce their rule through fear, intimidation and psychological warfare. It's all garbage.
"I'm not a left-or-right guy. I'm an American — that's my country; that's where I live. I don't trust my government. I don't give a shit if it's an 'R' or a 'D' next to the name of the person. I try to understand the bigger picture. I've done a lot of reading and a lot of studying. I'm a man of my convictions, and I don't say stuff that I don't truly believe. And I have changed my position a few times through the years, because I've learned more — not because I was trying to be politically correct or trying to kowtow to somebody's opinion."
This past summer, he called COVID-19 "a psychological warfare campaign on the people more than it is a serious pandemic," adding "I think there's a lot more going on than meets the eye here — in fact, I know there is. Legitimate doctors and scientists are being censored and banned on YouTube constantly. It's unbelievable levels of fraud."
