COLUMBUS, Ind. — An area man accused of using bear spray on Capitol Police during the Jan. 6 insurrection in Washington D.C. could go before a U.S. magistrate as early as today.
Government lawyers have asked the judge to not offer a bond to Jon Schaffer, 52, WISH-TV, the Republic’s newsgathering partners, reported.
Schaffer has connections both in Johnson and Bartholomew counties. While the FBI identified Schaffer as a Columbus resident in its statement about his arrest, voting records indicate his residence is in Edinburgh. In Indiana, voter registration records, including date of birth and address, are public records.
According to the Johnson County Clerk’s office, Schaffer is currently registered to vote from an address at 123 1/2 East Main Cross Street in downtown Edinburgh. The address at 123 East Main Cross Street was formerly occupied by the antique store Step Back in Time.
Sarabeth Drybread, community center director in Edinburgh, said there is no business currently located in the storefront of the two-story building, and that Step Back in Time has been closed for about five to six years.
Schaffer, founder of the internationally touring heavy metal rock band “Iced Earth,” is accused of six federal charges, including engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building.
After a statement of facts was filed in federal court by an FBI agent on Saturday, Schaffer turned himself in at 3 p.m. on Sunday, according to wire reports. On Monday, Chris Bavender, an FBI Indianapolis spokeswoman, said that Schaffer was being held at the Marion County Jail. Jail officials have not released any information about Schaffer, including a current street address or whether he has a bond.
The U. S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia has all jurisdiction on who is charged and what charges might be brought in Schaffer’s case, according to the attorney’s office for the Southern District of Indiana.
Schaffer was put on a most wanted list by the FBI after he was identified in video footage and photos inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6 carrying the spray and “engaging in verbal altercations” with Capitol Police officers, the statement says.
Photos show Schaffer wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt under a tactical vest with a baseball cap that reads “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member.” In the statement, the FBI identifies the “Oath Keepers” as an organization “that characterizes itself as a militia of former law enforcement and military personnel and has often, as a group, urged President (Donald) Trump to declare Martial Law in order to prevent the Congress from certifying the Electoral College Results.”
On Tuesday, prosecutors filed complaints of conspiracy and other crimes and arrested three members of the organization. It alleges that the group planned the attack weeks in advance, and coordinated by radio as they moved around the Capitol, according to wire reports.
Schaffer participated in the “Million MAGA March” in Washington D.C. with other Oath Keepers members on Nov. 14, and was photographed wearing the same sweatshirt as he did on Jan. 6, according to the statement.
In the July 18, 2001 edition of the Edinburgh Courier, Schaffer and his band were profiled. The article states that Schaffer was born in Franklin and attended elementary schools in Greenwood before dropping out of high school at 16 years old while living with his mother in Fort Wayne. Soon after, in 1984, he moved to Tampa, Florida, on his own where he pursued a career in music. By 1990, his band Iced Earth had created its first of what would become 12 albums. Schaffer is also a member of side projects “Demons & Wizards” and “Sons of Liberty.”
His father, Tom, worked as a pharmacist in Edinburgh, according to the Courier article. It also says his grandfather owned Schaffer’s Pharmacy in downtown Edinburgh, and the family also later owned and operated Schaffer’s Restaurant. In 2017, the business Not Just Popcorn moved into the old pharmacy location at 101 E. Main Cross St.
Schaffer, who has expressed a strong interest in American history in several video interviews, owned a business on 17th Street in Columbus during the early 2000s called Spirit of ‘76 Collectibles. In an article by maximummetal.com, he told the publication that he closed the business in 2008 due to the nationwide financial collapse.
According to a recent report by the Indianapolis Star, Schaffer currently owns a business property along a strip in Edinburgh, and last May he registered a new business called “Wicked Tales” at the address.
In a July 27, 2001 article featuring Schaffer by the Star, it said that Schaffer lived in a large but unassuming home in rural Bartholomew County.
The federal statement of fact said Schaffer has “long held extremist views,” has identified himself as an “anarchist” and has referred to the federal government as a “criminal enterprise.”
Over the years, Schaffer’s political beliefs have also spilled into his music. His side project “Sons of Liberty” has heavy political messaging, and Iced Earth’s album “The Glorious Burden” (2004) was highly controversial upon its release for its heavy themes of American exceptionalism. The album recounts moments in military history from the American Revolutionary War to the attacks of 9/11.
In 2009, announcing the creation of his side project Sons of Liberty, Schaffer was interviewed by famous conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on his far-right radio show on Infowars. In the interview, Schaffer said he had an “epiphany” after taking some time off from touring and also reading “The creature from Jekyll Island,” by G. Edward Griffin. He also claimed that the federal banking system and “elitists” were running the country.
“…I worry about the sovereignty of our country and all the countries on the planet. It’s very distributing stuff,” Schaffer told Jones. “If good people don’t know what’s going on then there is certainly no hope. They can call me a kook, they can call you (Jones) a kook, but we will get through to some people.”
During the interview with Jones, Schaffer also said “My father was a John Birch guy. When I was a young child I remember things that he and his friends would talk about, concerning the UN and stuff.” The John Birch Society, created by Robert Welch in Indianapolis in 1958, has also been labeled as a far-right group.
In a 2020 podcast interview on “The Quarantinecast,” published on the website Metalsucks.net, Schaffer referenced COVID-19 as a “plandemic” while also calling Bill Gates and Dr. Anthony Fauci “criminals.”
“I believe this is a psychological warfare campaign on the people more than it is a serious pandemic,” he said.
Schaffer’s bandmates released a statement condemning the Capitol insurrection soon after the incident, but Schaffer has not yet released a statement.
