Newburgh tattoo shop owner faces trial for seditious conspiracy in Jan. 6 riot case

Chris McKenna, Times Herald-Record
·3 min read
18

A Newburgh tattoo shop owner charged with the most serious crime stemming from the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is set to stand trial starting on Tuesday along with fellow members of the Oath Keepers militia.

Roberto Minuta, a 38-year-old Orange County native, is one of four Oath Keepers set to be tried for seditious conspiracy and other offenses for their alleged roles in the Capitol attack. An earlier trial for five other Oath Keepers − including Stewart Rhodes, the group's founder − ended Wednesday with a jury finding Rhodes and one co-defendant guilty of seditious conspiracy and convicting all five of at least two felonies.

Minuta faces five felony charges altogether. The most serious allegation is that he and other Oath Keepers plotted for weeks in advance to disrupt Congress as it met to certify President Joe Biden's election victory, and that they stockpiled weapons for their anticipated battle at the Virginia hotel where they stayed the night before the Capitol siege.

Roberto Minuta outside U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with military gear including hard-knuckle tactical gloves, ballistic goggles, a radio with an ear piece, and possibly bear spray.
Roberto Minuta outside U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with military gear including hard-knuckle tactical gloves, ballistic goggles, a radio with an ear piece, and possibly bear spray.

"Goggles":Newburgh tattoo artist under media scrutiny for his militia role in DC on Capitol riot day

Net widens:Newburgh tattoo artist is now one of 16 Oath Keepers charged in Jan. 6 Capitol riot

Serious charge:Newburgh tattoo artist charged with sedition in new Capitol riot case with militia leader

Minuta, a 2002 Newburgh Free Academy graduate, moved to a Dallas suburb with his family in 2020 but had continued to own and make periodic work trips to his Casa Di Dolore tattoo parlor on Broadway in the city of Newburgh. Federal agents arrested him there two months after the riot, following extensive news coverage and social media postings about Minuta and his activities on Jan. 6.

Video recordings discovered by internet researchers had showed Minuta, clad in Oath Keepers garb and SWAT-style protective gear, providing security for President Trump's ally Roger Stone that morning, and then berating police outside the Capitol and walking through the building with the invading horde.

Roberto Minuta uses a cellphone to video U.S. Capitol officers during Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington, D.C.
Roberto Minuta uses a cellphone to video U.S. Capitol officers during Jan. 6, 2021, riot in Washington, D.C.

After his arrest, prosecutors alleged that Minuta and other Oath Keepers had commandeered two golf carts and raced across Washington, D.C., to join the action after learning that Trump supporters had surged into the Capitol. Minuta urged on his cohorts by radio as they wove through traffic and passed police cars, according to a recording cited in the court papers.

"It's literally going down right now," Minuta was quoted as saying. "Patriots storming the Capitol building."

Minuta is one of 13 Hudson Valley men and roughly 900 people in all charged with participating in the Jan. 6 riot. Four local defendants have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors and two were so far convicted of felonies. Goshen resident Thomas Webster was convicted in May of assaulting a cop outside the Capitol and is serving 10 years in prison, the longest sentence so far imposed in the riot cases. A Westchester County native convicted of assaulting an officer is awaiting sentencing in January.

Cases against the other seven local defendants are still pending. Edward Lang, a Sullivan County native accused of fighting police for more than two hours and swinging a baseball bat at officers, remains behind bars while awaiting his trial, which had been set for January but was pushed back to May. William Pepe, a Dutchess County resident and alleged member of the far-right Proud Boys group, is set to stand trial even later, in October.

Oath Keeper President Stewart Rhodes speaks to the crowd outside Casa di Dolore tattoo shop in Newburgh on Saturday, May 30, 2020.
Oath Keeper President Stewart Rhodes speaks to the crowd outside Casa di Dolore tattoo shop in Newburgh on Saturday, May 30, 2020.

Minuta staged a rally with the Oath Keepers at his Newburgh tattoo shop in 2020 as he reopened it in public defiance of New York's pandemic shutdown orders for businesses. Rhodes, the group's founder, traveled from Texas to attend that gathering, even stepping inside the business with Minuta during the rally to get the phrase "We the People" from the Constitution preamble tattooed on his forearm.

Minuta has been free on a $150,000 bail bond since shortly after his arrest. The seditious conspiracy charge alone carries a potential prison sentence of up to 20 years, if he is convicted. Jurors found insufficient evidence to support that charge against three of the defendants in the first Oath Keepers trial.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for the Times Herald-Record and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@th-record.com.

This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Newburgh shop owner Rob Minuta faces sedition trial in Jan. 6 case