Danko Jones has slammed ICED EARTH guitarist Jon Schaffer, calling him “a white nationalist piece of dog dung.”
This past Friday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui ordered the 53-year-old musician, who resides in Edinburgh, Indiana, held without bail on six federal criminal charges related to his alleged involvement with the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. He ruled that while Schaffer wasn’t a flight risk, he does pose a danger to the community.
Earlier today, Danko tweeted out a link to a NME article about Friday’s hearing, accompanied with the following message: “Jon Schaffer used bad judgement because he’s a white nationalist piece of dog dung. His band mates cheered him on because ICED EARTH are a terrible band. His request for a ‘do-over’ proves his pathetic weakness. He’s the dictionary definition of a bell-end.”
He added in a separate tweet: “Only those that cosplay at being Alpha want ‘do-overs’. Jon Schaffer and @_IcedEarth are a FAKE band.”
A short time after Friday’s hearing, Schaffer‘s attorney Marc Victor filed a “motion to amend detention order,” claiming that “the government failed to establish Mr. Schaffer‘s dangerous to the community by clear and convincing evidence.”
“Mr. Schaffer is 53 years old. He has no criminal convictions. He does not have a substance abuse or mental health issue,” Victor wrote. “He has no history of violence and was not violent on January 6, 2021. He entered the capitol with pepper spray. He did not threaten anyone with or discharge the spray. He left the capitol after approximately sixty seconds and returned home to Indiana.”
During hearing, government lawyers presented exhibits consisting of a video interview Schaffer gave in November 2020 at a pro-Donald Trump rally expressing his political views and a video and still photos taken on January 6, showing him inside the U.S. Capitol holding “bear spray.”
The judge cited Schaffer‘s comments in the video interview that “if somebody wants to bring violence, I think there’s a lot of us here that are ready for it,” WUSA9 reported.
Schaffer‘s attorney argued Jon‘s comments were taken out of context, and that he knows he used bad judgment on January 6 and wishes he had a “do-over.”
According to Indiana Public Media, Victor said: “People have the right to believe the highest elected official. My client is not responsible for what happened on January 6.”
