Iced Earth guitarist and founder Jon Schaffer has filed a motion to dismiss all charges against him for his role in the U.S. Capitol riots in January.
As MetalSucks reports, attorneys for Schaffer claim in legal documents that the United States government "has not filed either an Information or Indictment" within 30 days of his arrest and that "the Complaint must be dismissed," citing the Speedy Trial Act from 1974.
The site notes that as of March 8, Schaffer has been held in the same jail in Marion County, IN, he has been in since turning himself in 48 days earlier on January 17. While he is currently awaiting extradition to Washington, D.C., where he will be tried, it has been reported that a backlog of riot-related cases have put strain on the U.S. court system, as the Justice Department continues to prosecute hundreds of people accused of storming the Capitol in January.
As previously reported, Schaffer faces six charges for his involvement in the riots, including engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disrupting the orderly conduct of government business, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building, and demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
In February, Iced Earth vocalist Stu Block, bassist Luke Appleton and guitarist Jake Dreyer all left the band following news of Schaffer's involvement, on top of his Demons & Wizards bandmate Hansi Kürsch officially leaving that project. The label home of both projects, Century Media, removed the artists from its current and former artist pages, but have not issued a formal statement concerning their removal.
Schaffer, who attended the riot wearing a hat with the logo of American far-right organization Oath keepers, did not shy away from sharing his right-wing, conspiratorial beliefs prior to the incident at the Capitol.
Last July, he told MetalSucks that the COVID-19 pandemic was a "psychological warfare campaign," and warned of right-wing political violence when interviewed at a pro-Trump event in November 2020.
As MetalSucks reports, attorneys for Schaffer claim in legal documents that the United States government "has not filed either an Information or Indictment" within 30 days of his arrest and that "the Complaint must be dismissed," citing the Speedy Trial Act from 1974.
The site notes that as of March 8, Schaffer has been held in the same jail in Marion County, IN, he has been in since turning himself in 48 days earlier on January 17. While he is currently awaiting extradition to Washington, D.C., where he will be tried, it has been reported that a backlog of riot-related cases have put strain on the U.S. court system, as the Justice Department continues to prosecute hundreds of people accused of storming the Capitol in January.
As previously reported, Schaffer faces six charges for his involvement in the riots, including engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building, knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful authority, disrupting the orderly conduct of government business, violent entry and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building, engaging in an act of physical violence in a Capitol building, and demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.
In February, Iced Earth vocalist Stu Block, bassist Luke Appleton and guitarist Jake Dreyer all left the band following news of Schaffer's involvement, on top of his Demons & Wizards bandmate Hansi Kürsch officially leaving that project. The label home of both projects, Century Media, removed the artists from its current and former artist pages, but have not issued a formal statement concerning their removal.
Schaffer, who attended the riot wearing a hat with the logo of American far-right organization Oath keepers, did not shy away from sharing his right-wing, conspiratorial beliefs prior to the incident at the Capitol.
Last July, he told MetalSucks that the COVID-19 pandemic was a "psychological warfare campaign," and warned of right-wing political violence when interviewed at a pro-Trump event in November 2020.
