A chilling connection has emerged between a recent hockey rink shooting and a racially motivated arson attack years prior. Kevin Colantonio, son of the shooter Robert Dorgan, is currently serving a six-year sentence for deliberately setting fire to a predominantly Black church in Rhode Island.
The February 2024 blaze at Shiloh Gospel Temple caused significant damage, though thankfully no one was injured as the church was empty at the time. Investigators uncovered disturbing evidence within Colantonio’s home – notebooks filled with hateful rhetoric and a chilling desire for violence against non-white individuals.
Court records reveal Colantonio confessed to intentionally targeting the church because of the race and religious affiliation of its congregants. He explicitly stated his motive was fueled by hatred, selecting the church specifically due to the identity of those who worshipped there.
The roots of Colantonio’s extremism appear to run deep within his family. Those close to the family suggest Dorgan, who also went by Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano, heavily influenced his son’s twisted worldview and fixation on race.
Dorgan, who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2020, openly espoused extremist views online, sharing pro-Nazi and antisemitic content. Posts on a social media platform revealed a disturbing alignment with ideologies far to the right of even Adolf Hitler, alongside expressions of “white power” and “white pride.”
The tragedy at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket claimed the life of Colantonio’s half-brother, Aidan Dorgan, and Dorgan’s ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan. Rhonda’s parents and a family friend were critically wounded in the attack, and remain hospitalized.
Following the shooting, authorities initially stated there was no indication of impending violence, noting Dorgan’s frequent attendance at hockey games. However, Dorgan’s daughter, Amanda Wallace-Hubbard, vehemently refuted this, claiming the shooting was a deliberate act of vengeance.
Wallace-Hubbard, who was present at the arena during the shooting, insisted the attack was targeted and specific, not a random act of violence. She believes her father harbored a deep-seated vendetta against certain family members, and that this fueled the horrific events that unfolded.
The motive behind the shooting remains officially unknown, but the emerging connection to Colantonio’s prior act of hate crime paints a disturbing picture of a family consumed by extremism and driven by a cycle of violence and retribution. Dorgan ultimately took his own life after the attack.
