A South Dakota man facing felony charges for his role in the Capitol riots was nabbed by the feds last week. William George Knight, 37, from Rapid City, found himself in cuffs Thursday, charged with assaulting law enforcement during the infamous Jan. 6 uprising, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The indictment slams Knight with a litany of offenses, including obstructing an official proceeding—a felony no less—and a slew of misdemeanors such as disorderly conduct and engaging in violence.
Arrest documents reveal a brazen Knight, purportedly pushing and pointing at police behind the walls of a glass structure, not backing down. Swept up in a raucous "Stop the Steal" rally in D.C., he was part of the mob that later breached the Capitol's defenses. Chillingly, he was among the first to storm the West Plaza. His arrest is the latest in a string of such apprehensions since the breach, which saw over 1,424 individuals charged across the nation.
Knight's aggressive stance did not wane at the Capitol, the feds say. He allegedly manhandled a metal sign into the police line-up and jeered at officers with taunts. "We ain’t leaving! We ain’t going nowhere!" Knight is accused of bellowing at the beleaguered police, as stated by the U.S. Department of Justice. His defiance seemed emblematic of that day’s chaos as he reportedly shoved an officer and wrestled with a barricade, making a weapon out of his resolve.
The aftermath left police scrambling to reestablish order, and as Knight allegedly charged, fueled by fervor, his contempt for authority was palpable. "Here are the b—. Here are the b—" he is said to have shouted, according to the charging papers, per the U.S. Department of Justice. The standoff lasted hours, the crowd pulsating with anger. The DOJ confirmed that Knight was a persistent figure in the fray, stationed on the Lower West Terrace well into the afternoon.
Knight's first court appearance was scheduled in South Dakota, while the broader investigation into the Capitol breach marches on, led by the DOJ's National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section. The FBI’s Minneapolis Division, Rapid Chargesheet City Resident Agency, and Washington Field Offices, along with Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Department, were all named as instrumental in bringing the ongoing search for justice forward.
