US arrests another Oath Keepers associate over Capitol riots

WASHINGTON - The US Justice Department has arrested another alleged associate of the anti-government Oath Keepers militia over his alleged role in storming the US Capitol on Jan. 6.

In charging documents made public on Monday, the FBI said Robert Minuta, 36, a recent resident of Hackettstown, New Jersey, who owns a tattoo shop in Newburgh, New York, "berated and taunted" US Capitol Police while clad in military-style gear, then attacked the Capitol and disrupted Congress as it was certifying President Joe Biden's election victory.

The charging document alleges he later deleted a Facebook account he had maintained for 13 years to "conceal his involvement in these offenses."

Adn FBI spokeswoman said Minuta was taken into custody on Saturday.

Minuta is the latest alleged associate of the Oath Keepers to face charges for his role in the Capitol riots, in which more than 100 police officers were assaulted, one was killed, and the Capitol suffered millions of dollars in damages.

Last month, a grand jury indicted nine associates of the Oath Keepers on charges they conspired to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's election victory. Several of them have since pleaded not guilty.

"Minuta stormed the Capitol grounds and was photographed standing in a crowd of rioters near a Capitol entrance, filming US Capitol police officers with a mobile cellular phone," the charging documents say.

"Eventually, Minuta unlawfully breached the Capitol building itself."

Later, as he exited, he was caught on video shouting to police: "All that's left is the Second Amendment!"

He faces charges of obstructing an official proceeding, unlawful entry and tampering with documents.

Information about who is representing him in the case was not immediately available.

The FBI's affidavit, which includes multiple photographs of a heavily bearded Minuta at the Capitol, includes a footnote containing a link to a story published on Feb. 14 by the New York Times about Oath Keepers associates who guarded veteran Republican operative and Trump supporter Roger Stone on Jan. 5 or 6 who later also entered the US capitol during the riots.

The story features photographs of six Oath Keepers who allegedly both guarded Stone and participated in the Capitol riots, and one of those six appears to resemble Minuta.

Stone did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reuters