Iced Earth Members Release Statement Regarding Jon Schaffer’s Involvement in Capitol Mob
UPDATE, 11:11am EST, January 10: Iced Earth vocalist Stu Block has been deleting comments and banning fans for bringing up a since-deleted post that expressed support for the pro-Trump riots at the Capitol earlier this week.
Original post:
The four members of Iced Earth who are not Jon Schaffer — vocalist Stu Block, guitarist Jake Dreyer, bassist Luke Appleton, and Brent Smedley — have released a statement which is, in essence, a response to Schaffer’s participation in the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday (Schaffer is never specifically named in the statement). You can read it below.
Schaffer is currently being sought by the FBI. Other participants in the riots, including Jake Anthony Chansley (a.k.a. “Jake Angeli,” a.k.a. “Horned Hat Guy”) and Adam Christian Johnson (the guy who stole House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern) have already been arrested and been charged with crimes including charged with knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority and with violent entry, disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, and theft of government property.
On Thursday, Block (ex-Into Eternity), implicitly supported Schaffer’s participation in the riots on social media, posting a giant heart and the hashtag #love, and he also responded to a fan on social media who said he could “no longer support the band you are in” by saying “t[h]is is your decision and how you feel and I must absolutely respect that.” The band’s guitarist, Jake Dreyer (also of Witherfall), declined to comment to MetalSucks on the issue, citing legal advice.
Here is the statement:
“We want to thank those of you who have sent words of support in recent days. 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.
“First and foremost 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.
“With broken hearts we are sending our love and compassion to everyone who has felt pain from the events on January 6th. We are deeply saddened and our hearts go out to the families of the lives lost that day. There are really no proper words to console. Just know we are with you in your shock, grief and pain. Much love to you all.”
[via Lambgoat]
