Westmoreland County clothing designer charged in Jan. 6 Capitol attack

A gold lapel pin on his breast pocket.

Dark brown sunglasses.

Distinctive gray and brown boots.

The FBI used those fashion elements to link a Westmoreland County clothing designer to the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. They filed charges against him this week.

On Wednesday morning, an FBI tactical squad took Tristan Sartor, 26, into custody at his South Huntingdon home.

He is charged with four federal counts, including entering and remaining in a restricted building; disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building and parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.

According to the criminal complaint, Sartor was inside the Capitol building for 1 minute and 15 seconds.

He is not accused of committing any physical acts of violence.

Following a brief hearing in U.S. Magistrate Court in Pittsburgh, Sartor was released on bond. As part of the bail order, he was required to surrender his passport and turn over five firearms to a relative.

His case will be prosecuted in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

Sartor’s attorney, Owen Seman, declined to comment.

According to the criminal complaint, Sartor was identified in U.S. Capitol closed circuit television entering the building at 2:19 p.m. through the Senate wing door.

As he entered, the complaint said, Sartor stopped briefly to talk with others who were holding flags associated with the America First movement.

He left through the door he had entered at 2:21 p.m.

According to the criminal complaint, agents were able to track Sartor through his distinctive clothing that day.

He wore a blue suit, black overcoat and brown tie, along with the sunglasses and boots.

On his coat, the affidavit said, he wore a gold lapel pin on his breast pocket.

Other videos and images from that day showed Sartor near the Washington Monument, at Freedom Plaza and crossing the National Mall.

In June 2022, agents interviewed another person who illegally entered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 who identified Sartor through photographs. Three other witnesses who were interviewed did the same.

As part of their investigation, agents also reviewed social media networks, including Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn, where they found a person identified as Sartor whose physical description and unique clothing were consistent with the person identified at the riot.

In one Instagram post from March 12, 2020, Sartor shared an image of the boots, noting that a photographer had stopped him in Washington, D.C., to take a picture.

They appear to be the same boots, according to the affidavit, that Sartor wore during the riot.

The FBI learned in their investigation that Sartor had been issued a Pennsylvania driver’s license in 2022 and were able to connect him with the address in South Huntingdon.

Although he was previously working for a vehicle salvage company, Sartor listed himself in court documents as working for T.R.’s Sartorial.

On Sartor’s website, trsartorial.com, it says he sells suits, accessories and shoes, noting that his company puts “Christ first in everything we do.”

According to the Department of Justice, in the 42 months since the insurrection, 1,472 people have been charged, and 873 of those have pleaded guilty.

On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump said during the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago that he would pardon those convicted in the insurrection if reelected.

“Oh absolutely I would. If they are innocent, I would pardon them,” he said. “They were convicted by a very tough system.”