Oath Keeper admits to Capitol riot

A heavy metal guitarist and founding member of a far-right militia group has agreed to the first plea deal with prosecutors stemming from the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, officials said Friday.

Jon Schaffer of the Oath Keepers anti-government militia admitted at a federal hearing in Washington, D.C., that he took part in the storming of the Capitol building, wearing a tactical vest and armed with bear repellent spray, the U.S. Justice Department said.

It’s the first plea agreement announced by the Justice Department from among the more than 400 people who face criminal charges stemming from the violent riot as Congress was preparing to certify the Electoral College vote in favor of President Biden.

The melee by supporters of former President Donald Trump left five people dead.

In his plea deal, Schaffer, 53, a guitarist and founder of the heavy metal band Iced Earth, admitted going to Washington on Jan. 6 to protest the election results, which he believed were fraudulent, and joining the mob that forced its way into the Capitol building.

He admitted being part of a crowd that broke open locked doors being guarded by Capitol police, pushing his way into the building and forcing the officers clad in riot gear to retreat.

Police then sprayed Schaffer and others with a chemical irritant to help disperse the mob.

Schaffer “admits forcing his way into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 for the express purpose of stopping or delaying congressional proceedings essential to our democratic process,”

“These actions are disgraceful and unacceptable,” he said.

The Indiana native originally faced six charges but pleaded guilty to two felonies: obstruction of an official proceeding and trespassing on restricted grounds with a deadly or dangerous weapon.

Schaffer has voiced various conspiracy theories, once telling a German news station that a shadowy criminal enterprise was trying to run the world under a communist agenda and that he and others were prepared to fight it with violence.

In court documents, the FBI said Schaffer “has long held far-right extremist views” and that he had previously “referred to the federal government as a ‘criminal enterprise.’” He faces up to 30 years in prison. Schaffer turned himself in a few days after the riot.