Newburgh shop owner arrested over Capitol riot
A Newburgh tattoo shop owner has been arrested over the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, federal authorities said Monday.
NEW YORK » A Newburgh tattoo parlor owner and another man wanted in the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol were arrested over the weekend, federal authorities said Monday.
Roberto Minuta, the owner of Casa Di Dolore Tattoo at 784 Broadway in Newburgh, breached the Capitol grounds and “aggressively berated and taunted U.S. Capitol police officers” during the Jan. 6 insurrection, the FBI said in court papers. Minuta reportedly served as a bodyguard to former President Donald Trump’s longtime political confidant Roger Stone.
Minuta, 36, of Hackettstown, New Jersey, had been “equipped with military-style attire and gear, including apparel emblazoned with a crest related
to the Oath Keepers,” the FBI said, referring to the far-right antigovernment militia.
The New York Times identified Minuta as one of six people who provided security to Stone in the hours before the assault on the Capitol. Stone, who was pardoned after his sentence for several felony charges was initially commuted by Trump, was in Washington the day of the assault but has denied any involvement.
It was not immediately known whether Minuta had a defense attorney.
Last month, Minuta’s tattoo parlor was vandalized, with windows broken and graffiti spray-painted on the building. Police said at the time they were investigating the incident as a possible hate crime.
The storefront’s windows appeared to be shattered by rocks or other objects. “PB SCUM” and “F—O—” were spray-painted on the building’s exterior walls. An Antifa sticker was also affixed to one of the building’s windows.
“PB” is an abbreviation for “Proud Boys,” the white supremacist group that supports Trump.
Last May, Minuta challenged New York state by reopening his shop before it was allowed to do so during a pause in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is more about the infringement of our freedoms,” he told Mid-Hudson News at the time. “I am definitely not doing myself any good financially by doing this, but I believe that my rights and the rights of everyone else are more important than my finances.”
Also arrested over the weekend was Isaac Steve Sturgeon, 32, of Dillon, Montana, who is charged with shoving a metal police barricade into police officers during the insurrection, according to court records.
Authorities said he was identified through police body camera video and photographs posted to social media.
The FBI said Sturgeon, who owns a lawn care business, traveled to Kenya on Jan. 24 and was deported from that country to New York. He was arrested Saturday at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Sturgeon told a federal magistrate Monday he “wasn’t trying to flee,” adding he’s a frequent traveler.
His defense attorney declined to comment on the charges.
Prosecutors said Sturgeon faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
At least five people, including a Capitol Police officer, died as a result of the violence at the Capitol, and two other officers killed themselves after. More than 300 people have been charged with federal crimes.