Iced Earth’s Jon Schaffer Wanted by Police for Participation in Pro-Trump Mob
In case there was any doubt that the participants in yesterday’s storming of the Capitol were not merely thugs but also total idiots: a whole lot of them didn’t wear face masks during the riot. Not only does that mean they endangered themselves and others by potentially contracting and/or spreading COVID-19… but it makes them SUPER easy for law enforcement authorities to identify.
Which is exactly what’s happening right now: Washington, D.C. police, working alongside federal investigators (because what those people did yesterday was, y’know, a federal crime), have released images of 38 of the rioters, who are wanted for “unrest-related offenses.” Authorities are offering “a reward of up to $1,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for a crime committed in the District of Columbia.”
The images include photos of that one putz who looked like a WWE wrestler with the gimmick of being a Viking Davy Crockett, every dumb shit who took a selfie inside the building, and, oh yeah, Jon Schaffer from Iced Earth.
The above photo, you’re likely aware, started making the rounds yesterday evening. Taken by Roberto Schmidt, it has been licensed from Getty Images by both NBC News and The Daily Beast. While there’s been no official confirmation it’s Schaffer in the picture… I mean, c’mon, it’s Schaffer in the picture.
That gunshot you just heard wasn’t Schaffer fighting for freedom. It was the starter pistol in the race to see which former Iced Earth band member will get that reward. Said band members are advised to “call police at (202) 727-9099 or text their tip to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE line at 50411,” according to authorities.
This is by no means Schaffer’s first foray into conservative politics. Frequently seen sporting a confederate flag bandana, the guitarist has repeatedly expressed a distrust of the government (with a special emphasis on the federal reserve), claimed that Trump lost the popular vote in 2016 because of illegal immigrants, and said that teachers should be armed.
Meanwhile, in July, Schaffer told MetalSucks’ own Vince Neilstein that he did not believe the coronavirus pandemic to be a real threat, referring to it as the “plandemic,” claiming that coronavirus case counts have been artificially inflated, and suggesting that the current economic shutdown was orchestrated by a small group of global elites with profits in mind
On top of all of that, in November, the German newspaper Die Welt interviewed Schafer while he marched in a similar demonstration. At that time, he told the paper that “[The establishment] will go under. They mess with the wrong people, believe me.”
[via Blabbermouth and Metal Injection]
