Former Iced Earth Singer Stu Block Says Jon Schaffer “F*cked up Real Bad”
Former Iced Earth singer Stu Block has at long last broken his silence on that band’s guitarist, Jon Schaffer, participating in the violent, seditious riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Three days after Schaffer helped attempt a coup, the other members of Iced Earth issued a collective statement yesterday in which they said they “absolutely DO NOT condone nor do we support riots or the acts of violence.” But that statement seemed to be at odds with sentiments Block shared on his personal Facebook page after news of Schaffer’s participation first broke. The most damning of these posts when was written the day of the riot itself: “Oh it’s happening! History in the making. Sending love to my friends in the US and all over the world!” (Block is Canadian). When a fan asked, “Are you condemning what happened today Stu?” he replied, “And where in my statement would you get that impression?”
Block soon came under fire for banning any social media followers who dared to note the contradiction.
Block finally quit Iced Earth in mid-February — more than a month after the riot — and officially rejoined his old band, Into Eternity, just this week.
Now, in a new interview with The Metal Voice, Block seems decidedly less supportive of Schaffer’s actions:
“We all make bad decisions, man, and [Jon] fucked up real bad. And I’m sure he knows it, and I think everybody with half a brain knows it… The line that was crossed with going in and all that kind of stuff… He had so much going on. It was a shame. It hurts, ’cause you’ve got plans, and all of a sudden, you can’t tell someone what to do — you can’t tell a very strong-willed individual what to do; you can’t. And so it would be lost words.”
He continued:
“At the end of the day, I don’t hate him. I’m not writhing in hate for him. I feel sad. I feel bad that everything went down the way it did. And maybe one day we’ll talk. I don’t know. I’m not too sure. But I think he knows that I still have a place in my heart for him, because I’ve seen that man do a lot of amazing, wonderful things for people. But I just wanna move on. And that’s what it is.”
Schaffer turned himself into authorities on January 17 and was held in jail for 89 days, first in a facility in Marion County, IN, and then in Washington D.C. after extradition. He was released after entering into a plea bargain with federal prosecutors, the terms of which call for him to cooperate with authorities by sharing information with them about other conspirators in exchange for a lessened sentence.
You can listen to the entire interview Block below.
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