Jon Schaffer, from Tampa metal band Iced Earth, surrenders to FBI on charges related to Capitol insurrection

The FBI says he was among a group who used bear spray against Capitol police.

click to enlarge Jon Schaffer, from Tampa metal band Iced Earth, surrenders to FBI on charges related to Capitol insurrection
Metropolitan Police Washington D.C.

Jon Schaffer must’ve felt the weight of federal officers watching over him because the member of Tampa metal icon Iced Earth has officially turned himself in to face what the Indianapolis Star says are six charges, including physical violence in a Capitol building.

The 52-year-old was quickly identified by fans in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol where Schaffer was pictured wearing a hat that said “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member.” The Southern Poverty Law Center says the group “claims only to be defending the Constitution, the entire organization is based on a set of baseless conspiracy theories about the federal government working to destroy the liberties of Americans.”

The Washington Post cited authorities who place Schaffer—and Indiana native who would often travel to Tampa Bay to complete records at famed Morrisound studios—among rioters who targeted U.S. Capitol Police with bear spray.

See a list of Tampa Bay’s “Safe & Sound” live music venues here.

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Ray Roa

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief in August 2019. Past work can be seen at Suburban Apologist, Tampa Bay Times, Consequence of Sound and The...
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