Jon Schaffer is shown in this Associated Press photo inside the Capitol building on Jan. 6.
WASHINGTON — The District of Columbia has accused a local man and heavy metal guitarist of conspiring to terrorize the nation’s Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection in a civil lawsuit against far-right extremists who planned, promoted and participated in the attack.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 14 in federal court in Washington, D.C. by the district’s attorney general, Karl Racine, alleges that far-right groups the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, their leaders and more than 30 members — including former Columbus resident Jon Schaffer — conspired to violently overrun federal and state law enforcement and force their way into the Capitol. The attack was an effort to prevent Congress from certifying Electoral Vote counts and declaring Democrat Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit further states that the Trump-supporting extremists conspired to “injure” another former Columbus resident — former Vice President Mike Pence — who had refused to suspend the Electoral College vote tally at the request of then-President Donald Trump.
The former vice president was forced to flee the Senate floor as rioters violently overwhelmed police and breached the Capitol, many chanting “Hang Mike Pence,” the lawsuit states.
Schaffer, who is best known as a member of the heavy metal band Iced Earth, pleaded guilty in April to breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, armed with bear repellent. He also pleaded guilty to obstruction of an official proceeding and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.
As part of his guilty plea, Schaffer acknowledged that he is “a founding, lifetime member of the Oath Keepers” and believes that “the federal government has been ‘co opted’ by a cabal of elites actively trying to strip American citizens of their rights.” The Oath Keepers is a militia group that recruits current and former military, police and first responders.
The District of Columbia is seeking monetary damages from Schaffer and other members of the two extremist groups for “extraordinary damages and costs” due to the insurrection, including dispatching hundreds of Metropolitan Police Department officers to defend the Capitol against the attack, emergency and medical treatment for at least 65 injured officers, paid leave for officers who could not work due to their injuries, among other costs.
Nearly 1,000 Capitol police officers have required therapy to help them cope with the physical and emotional trauma caused by the events that unfolded during the Jan. 6 attack, the lawsuit states. Many officers still require ongoing therapy.
The lawsuit cites as its basis a post-Civil War 1871 law known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, The Associated Press reported. A similar tactic was used to secure a recent $26 million verdict against white supremacist groups and individuals responsible for organizing the violent 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which one person was killed after a man plowed his car into a group of counter-protesters.
The lawsuit was pending in federal court as of Wednesday.
“The District expects to pay for continued medical care for these officers as necessary going forward, including care related to the impact of the attack on MPD officers’ mental health,” the lawsuit states. “While the costs to the District are still being investigated and tallied, the District has preliminarily estimated that MPD incurred millions of dollars in costs during the week of Jan. 6 alone.”
One year ago, a violent mob urged on by Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol building, ransacked offices and occupied the Senate floor, forcing lawmakers into hiding in a failed attempt to overturn America’s presidential election and keep Biden from replacing Trump in the White House.
The nation’s elected representatives scrambled to crouch under desks and don gas masks, while police with guns drawn tried to barricade the building, one of the most jarring scenes ever to unfold in a seat of American political power, according to wire reports.
As the mob swelled inside, officers were being assaulted. The attackers pinned a bloodied police officer in a doorway, his twisted face and screams captured on video, according to wire reports. They mortally wounded another officer with a blunt weapon, believed to be a fire extinguisher, and body-slammed a third over a railing into the crowd. The mob dragged and beat another officer on the steps of the Capitol.
Schaffer was one of the first six insurrectionists to push through the damaged doors of the Capitol and was photographed inside wearing a hat that said “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member,” with bear spray in his hand, according to the lawsuit.
The officers’ physical injuries varied, ranging from bruised arms and legs, swollen ankles and wrists and lacerations to more serious injuries, such as irritated eyes and lungs from bear and pepper spray, cracked ribs, shattered spinal discs, wounds from being hit with a metal fence stake and concussions from head blows from various objects, including metal poles ripped from inauguration-related scaffolding and an American flagpole, the lawsuit states.
One MPD officer testified before Congress that he suffered a concussion, a traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and a heart attack after repeatedly hit with a stun gun,
A second officer testified that he was crushed between a doorframe and a clear plastic shield that was wielded by someone in the crowd while the insurrectionists threw items at his head, attempted to wrest away his baton and sprayed him with tear gas.
“At one point, someone tried to gouge out his eye,” the complaint states. “Eventually, while he was pinned against the door, another attacker beat his head against the wall. Another man wrested away the officer’s baton and beat him in the face with it, leaving him with a ruptured lip and cranial injuries.”
Another officer was shocked multiple times as he was beaten unconscious by the crowd while screaming for help.
“While the crowd was beating him with fists and hard metal objects, they shouted, ‘kill him with his own gun’ and stripped his badge, radio and ammunition from his body,” the lawsuit states. “As a result of his injuries, the MPD officer lost consciousness for more than four minutes. The MPD officer was finally driven to MedStar Washington Hospital by his MPD partner, who was also heavily injured.”
Trump, in a video posted 90 minutes after lawmakers were evacuated, told the insurrectionists “We love you. You’re very special,” while asking them to go home.
At least 33 current and former Bartholomew County residents were on the U.S. Capitol grounds as the attack unfolded.
A local Republican organized a Trump caravan that travelled to Washington, D.C. that included 30 Bartholomew County residents. The group sought to pressure Sens. Todd Young, R-Indiana, and Mike Braun, R-Indiana, to contest the 2020 election results and were outside the Capitol during the insurrection but said nobody in the group entered the building or were involved in the violence.
After the clouds of tear gas and dissipated and heavily armed officers pushed the mob of pro-Trump insurrectionists off the Capitol grounds, then-Vice President Mike Pence gaveled the joint session of Congress back in and presided over the certification of the election, despite Trump’s demands.
Braun initially said he would challenge Electoral College votes from some states but abruptly reversed course after the siege on the U.S. Capitol and voted to certify the results. Young also voted to certify the results, saying in a statement that he would “uphold my constitutional duty and certify the will of the states as presented.”
However, Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana — the brother of the former vice president — voted against certifying the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania and has cast votes against impeaching Trump on charges of inciting the insurrection, as well as forming a committee to investigate the attack and holding former Trump administration officials in contempt for refusing to cooperate with the investigation.
In a statement, Rep. Pence said his vote against certifying the election results in Pennsylvania “reflect both my support of the Constitution and the disenfranchised voters of the Sixth District.”
Months later, Rep. Pence recounted at a Republican fundraising dinner in his district that, “My brother was being asked to do what we don’t do in this country.” He later added, “I couldn’t be prouder.”
