WASHINGTON — A federal judge has ruled that Jon R. Schaffer be held without bond while he awaits trial for his alleged involvement during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Magistrate Judge Zia M. Faruqui gave the order during an initial appearance/detention hearing on Friday for the Edinburgh man, according to court documents.
Court documents state that the decision was made “based on a finding the government had proven by clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Schaffer was a danger to the community and that no condition or combination of conditions would reasonably assure the safety of any other person or the community if Mr. Schaffer was released.”
During the hearing, U.S. attorneys presented a video interview of Schaffer from last year, where he expressed his political views, and a still photo that was taken on Jan. 6 showing him inside the Capitol, according to court documents.
The video presented to the judge was taken during the “Million MAGA March,” a pro-Donald Trump rally, in Washington D.C this past November.
In the interview, where Schaffer identified himself by name, he said “…People need to wake up and snap out of the Matrix, because they’re going down. They made the move, they’re messing with the wrong people here, trust me on that. And we needed it to be open like this. Open fraud. Open theft. Because now we see you, and you’re going down, mark my words.”
For more on this story, see Tuesday’s Republic.
