JON SCHAFFER: Fallout From Involvement In U.S. Capitol Riot 'Brought Me Into A Personal Relationship With Christ'

In a new interview with the Tom Woods Show, ICED EARTH founder and guitarist Jon Schaffer discussed his involvement in the January 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Asked to describe his political views, Jon said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I'm just a pro-freedom guy. And I have to admit that there was a point in my life where I bought into the neocon [neoconservatism] stuff, and that was a long time ago. And I think people need to grow and change their positions as they learn more. I'm always willing to be convinced that I'm wrong about something. But I think it takes a certain kind of intestinal fortitude to admit you're wrong about things and that you were seeing the world through a false view. And it just continues to grow for me. And Ron Paul was a huge part of that. And I really got behind the Ron Paul movement back in 2007, I guess, [200]8, around that time period is when I really became aware. So I'm just a freedom guy. That's the main thing for me. It's not about Democrats or Republicans."

Regarding why he took part in the pro-Trump march to the U.S. Capitol more than four years ago despite being "no Trump sycophant", as Jon put it to host Tom Woods, Schaffer said: "Well, because I believed it was the collapse of the republic. With all of the extreme COVID hysteria, the overreach from the government — I don't think you can get any more fascist than that. When these giant corporations are getting record profits and small businesses are being crushed and people are forced to take an experimental medication, if you wanna call it that, whatever, or lose their jobs or get kicked out of the military, that's textbook fascism. So there was a lot of stuff like that that was going on that I felt was very disturbing. And then, of course, you have the election part of it, which, frankly, I would've been just as outraged if the roles were reversed. But we've been on this path for a very long time, and I guess I felt optimistic that the people were waking up. And I think they are, but I think we have quite a challenge ahead of us. We're in that phase, I believe, where times have been good for so long that it's created a lot of weak men and weak men create hard times and hard times create strong men and strong men create good times and good times create weak men. And so I think we're in that phase of this. I hate to see western civilization collapse. I'm not sure if it's stoppable, but I think there's fertile ground to spread the ideas of liberty."

Addressing the fact that many of his professional colleagues were too afraid to be associated with him after he was arrested and publicly denounced him, Jon said: "I would say that the three and a half years after [being placed in] solitary [confinement] was even harder because every quarter it got continued and continued. And I talked to [my attorneys] about this. I'm, like, 'You know, guys, if I've gotta go to prison, I wanna get started. I'm not gonna get younger here.' I mean, it was almost harder because I couldn't really do anything. I'm grateful that I had that time down in Florida to take care of my mom [before she passed away] and to be with her and stuff, for sure. But it was a painful growing process. And it really has been a gift, in the big picture, to really see who is loyal and who I can trust and who I know are really there. That's a big deal. It brought me to Christ."

Jon continued: "I grew up a Christian, went to a Christian school, rebelled big time because of the things that I experienced at that school, being young, being angry, but I was never 'anti' Christ. But I really didn't get along with organized religion; I had a problem with that. But I always thought that Jesus was a serious badass. Seriously. I know people are gonna think that's funny, but I've even written songs about that kind of stuff. But this brought me into a personal relationship with Christ, and that's been the biggest gift of all through all of this. But then there's other things, like finding out who your friends are, what really matters. It was a crucible and it was a gift. It was hard, but it was a gift."

Asked what the whole ordeal has meant for him career-wise, Schaffer said: "Well, I work for [the] Attorneys For Freedom [law firm] now. For me, the music business totally sucks. I mean, I've always hated it. But I endured it because of my songwriting passion. The band was the vehicle, the guitar was the tool to make my songs a reality. That was the whole driving point. And right now I'm not feeling that. And dude, look, this is actually the 40th anniversary of when I started the band. So I did it. I don't have anything to prove anybody. I've written hundreds and hundreds of songs and had all these cool projects and played in over a hundred countries around the world for decades. And if the songwriting comes back, then who knows? But I'm not gonna push it. I'm not gonna force it. To me, that's a checker's move anyway, because that's what everybody would expect you to do. And I have had good offers from festivals and from promoters over in Europe. I'm not gonna whore myself out to the music business for Federal Reserve notes. I refuse to. And so it's gotta be that there's a true passion there to want to write songs again. I mean, I've got enough classic records that I could get paid really good money to go out and play those full albums. I'm not gonna do it. It's gotta be about the songs or I'm not in. And when this opportunity to work for Attorneys For Freedom came up, this is an activist law firm and whatever way that I can contribute to trying to make things better, that's what I wanna do. So I'm learning a lot. And I work for Attorneys On Retainer [which provides legal defense, financial support, and affiliate benefits for individuals involved in a self-defense-related incident], which is the best self-defense coverage program in the United States by far. It's totally revolutionary. There's nothing else like it on the market. It's not insurance backed. We don't have the exclusions of all the insurance companies. And this is a catalyst to help push pro-freedom causes and to help fund that. And the AOR members know that a portion of their funds are going to pro-freedom causes and for these guys to do what they love to do. So it's awesome. I mean, everything that's going on here is a really good thing. And I feel more — it sounds crazy, but I feel like I'm right where I'm supposed to be right now, right where I'm supposed to be. And that's for the first time in my life. And there's no accidents about how this happened. It feels like an insurmountable task, but we've gotta try, right? I mean, if we don't try, we're just rolling over to a lot of really ugly, evil stuff."

Following the initial reports that Schaffer was involved in the riot, his ICED EARTH bandmates distanced themselves from his actions. Singer Stu Block and bassist Luke Appleton later posted separate statements on social media announcing their resignations. BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch also quit DEMONS & WIZARDS, his long-running project with Schaffer. The allegations also apparently affected Schaffer's relationship with his longtime record label Century Media, which had released albums from both ICED EARTH and DEMONS & WIZARDS. As of mid-January 2021, the Century Media artist roster page did not list either band.

In October 2024, Schaffer was sentenced to three years of probation and 120 hours of community service in connection with his involvement in the riot at the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. At the sentencing hearing, Jon was also ordered to pay $1,000 in restitution and a $200 financial assessment. Schaffer later became one of about 1,500 people accused of crimes related to the riot who were pardoned by U.S. president Donald Trump.

This past April, Schaffer said in an interview that the legal issues and professional setback he faced as a result of his involvement in the Capitol riot have been "the biggest gift" of his life, in part because "it is what led" him "to [Jesus] Christ."