Guitarist seen at Capitol riot charged

INDIANAPOLIS — A heavy metal guitarist who was photographed with the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol and is accused of spraying police officers with a pepperbased bear spray irritant has been arrested, the FBI said.

Jon Ryan Schaffer turned himself in Sunday after he was featured on an FBI poster seeking the public’s help in identifying rioters, said Chris Bavender, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Indianapolis office. He has been charged with several felony counts, including engaging in an act of physical violence and knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted building or grounds without lawful entry.

Schaffer is a central Indiana native who is a member of the band “Iced Earth.”

The Indianapolis Star reported that Schaffer was seen in photographs and on video “engaging in verbal altercations with Capitol Police inside the Capitol building” and holding a container of bear spray that’s sold by outdoor retailers.

Schaffer is a supporter of President Donald Trump and has voiced various conspiracy theories, once telling a German news station that a shadowy criminal enterprise is trying to run the world under a communist agenda and that he and others are prepared to fight, with violence.

According to a statement filed in federal court, Schaffer “has long held far-right extremist views.” The statement said that: “During an interview in 2017, Schaffer . . . referred to the federal government as a ‘criminal enterprise.’ During that same interview, Schaffer stated that the 2016 presidential election was ‘rigged.’ ”