Marc J. Victor, the attorney for Iced Earth guitarist Jon Schaffer, has revealed some insight on what his client allegedly underwent while in custody for his involvement in the January 06th, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol Building. Schaffer turned himself into the authorities on January 17th and remained in custody for a period of roughly two months before being granted a conditional release in April.
According to Victor, Schaffer endured fecal and urine attacks by other inmates as well as threats on his life. Victor was quoted as saying of his client’s incarceration during a detention hearing in the U.S. District Court for the District Of Columbia this past March:
“My client, who is presumed innocent, has just gone through two months of hell where other people were throwing feces at him and urine at him and threatening his life in a horrible, horrible situation. Shame on us, Judge, that this is happening in our justice system.”
A report published by the Indianapolis Star reveals that Schaffer was held in ‘Administrative Segregation’ due to his ‘high profile status’. Their report (see here) also shed more light on the alleged interactions he had with other inmates.
This past April Schaffer plead guilty to the charges of obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress; and trespassing on restricted grounds of the Capitol while armed with a deadly or dangerous weapon for his role in the riot. Schaffer (pictured above in blue) was shown on security camera footage to have breached the building itself. The deadly or dangerous weapon charge originated from him being armed with pepper spray during the incident.
Schaffer‘s charges were somewhat reduced in exchange for his full cooperation in the ongoing investigation into the riot. Schaffer is said to have “acknowledged he is a founding lifetime member of the Oath Keepers” in his plea agreement. The Oath Keepers are a far-right militia group, at least a dozen members of which are facing charges related to the U.S. Capitol Building riot.
Despite Schaffer residing in Indiana, the Indiana chapter of the Oath Keepers publicly stated that Schaffer wasn’t a member of their organization back in January of this year.
With the investigation ongoing, Schaffer has yet to be sentenced on the charges, presumably due to the value of his cooperation still being assessed with ongoing investigations. Should things not go his way, he could still be looking to serve at least 3-4 years in prison for his actions.
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