Oath Keepers Founding Member Enters First Guilty Plea From the Capitol Riot

A Capitol rioter has entered the first guilty plea stemming from the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection and agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department as it continues its wide-ranging investigation.

Jon Schaffer entered his guilty plea on Friday to two counts, including obstruction of an official proceeding. He has agreed to fully cooperate with authorities, according to a plea deal read aloud in court by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta.

The plea marks a major breakthrough in a wide-ranging investigation as federal prosecutors continue the meticulous task of collecting evidence against hundreds of Donald Trump supporters who joined the mob that laid siege to the U.S. Capitol.

A front man for the heavy-metal band “Iced Earth,” Schaffer entered the Capitol wearing a baseball cap that read “Oath Keepers Lifetime Member,” according to prosecutors. The government has focused heavily on the participation in the Capitol riot of members of militia groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.

Schaffer admitted that he attempted to impede Congress’s certification of the Electoral College vote and carried bear repellent pepper spray while at the Capitol, “where the vice president was temporarily visiting,” according to court papers.

Plea agreements have been in the works for weeks, court records show. On April 5, the Justice Department informed a federal judge that it was deep in negotiations with Schaffer, who was arrested on charges that he attacked police officers with bear spray.

“The government’s ongoing plea negotiations with this defendant are the first and most advanced plea negotiations involving any of the over 300 Capitol Riot defendants,” prosecutors said in the filing. “Plea terms have thus required extensive review and approval at various levels of government necessitating more time than usual to approve and negotiate.”

Federal prosecutors have long understood that there were gradations of misconduct at the Capitol, with some rioters engaging in violence or vandalism while others simply followed the crowd into the building. In the coming weeks, those distinctions are likely to shape decisions about whether the government strikes deals with defendants or devotes resources to proceed to a criminal trial.

Even before the riot, courts in Washington and across the country were struggling with a backlog of cases created by shutdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. A series of quick plea deals would help alleviate that burden, and potentially allow prosecutors to focus more resources on complex conspiracy cases targeting the right-wing groups that allegedly helped plan and fuel the riot.

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