BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch has quit his long-running project with ICED EARTH‘s Jon Schaffer, DEMONS & WIZARDS.
Hansi announced his departure from DEMONS & WIZARDS following Schaffer‘s involvement in U.S. Capitol chaos on January 6.
Kürsch released the following statement: “I notified Jon and Century Media [DEMONS & WIZARDS‘ record label] on Monday that I was leaving the DEMONS & WIZARDS project with immediate effect. My collaboration with Jon in DEMONS & WIZARDS is over.”
Schaffer was still being held at Marion County Jail as of Friday morning (January 29), a week after U.S. Magistrate for the Southern District of Indiana judge Mark Dinsmore signed an order for the musician to appear in D.C.’s district court.
These are the six charges Schaffer is facing, according to the FBI Indianapolis Field Office:
1. Knowingly Entering or Remaining in any Restricted Building or Grounds Without Lawful Authority
2. Disrupting the Orderly Conduct of Government Business
3. Knowingly Engages in an Act of Physical Violence Against any Person or Property in any Restricted Building or Grounds
4. Violent Entry and Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building
5. Engage in an Act of Physical Violence in a Capitol Building
6. Parade, Demonstrate, or Picket in a Capitol Building
Schaffer was among the rioters who sprayed United States Capitol police officers with “bear spray,” a form of capsaicin pepper spray sold by many outdoors retailers, as part of their efforts to push the officers back inside the Capitol and breach the Capitol building themselves, according to FBI.
