At least he voted?
A new report from Indiana television station WISH-TV found that Iced Earth frontman Jon Shaffer, who was arrested recently for his involvement in the January 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, voted for the first time in 12 years during the 2020 election. That notably means that he did not vote in the 2016 election that brought former President Trump into the White House.
Of the four Indiana residents who were arrested for their part in storming the Capitol building, Schaffer is the only one who actually voted. According to the report, of the other three people arrested, one had never voted, one hadn’t voted since 2016 and one skipped both of the last two presidential elections and voted in the 2018 midterms.
Schaffer turned himself in to Indiana authorities on January 17 after being identified at the Capitol wearing an “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member” hat and wielding a can of bear spray. He was being held at the Marion County Jail until last week when he was transferred into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. He will next be extradited to Washington D.C. where he will face six charges, among them entering a restricted building and violent and disorderly conduct.
January 6 wasn’t the only time Schaffer has protested at the Capitol. According to Blabbermouth, Back in November following the election results, he gave an interview to German daily newspaper Die Welt from Washington D.C. saying that “a group of thugs and criminals hijacked this country a long time ago” and that “they’re messing with the wrong people here. Because now we see you, and you’re going down. Mark my words.”
Following the insurrection, members of Iced Earth and Schaffer’s Demons & Wizards collaborator Hansi Kürsch both released statements condemning the event. On Tuesday, it was revealed that Kürsch has gone one step further and decided to leave Demons & Wizards.
