Record at a Glance
- Category
- Jan 6th
- Age in NPR record
- 36
- Location
- North Carolina
- Charges
- Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly and Disruptive Conduct in a Restricted Building or Grounds; Disorderly Conduct in a Capitol Building; Parading, Demonstrating, or Picketing in a Capitol Building
- Case status
- Pleaded guilty; Dismissed in part or full; Sentenced
- Presidential action
- Pardon
Case Summary
A confidential source contacted the FBI to tell the bureau that Billy Knutson had posted that he was at the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Court documents indicate Knutson posted on the social media platform Parler under the username @playboythebeast. A second source also told the FBI that Knutson had entered the building through a window and provided a video. Knutson can also allegedly be seen inside the building from surveillance footage that day. In a post uploaded to a YouTube channel with the same username as Knutson's Parler account, Knutson allegedly wrote: "D.C., it was real. Until next time."
Case History
Knutson pleaded Guilty to one charge: Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds. The other charges are dismissed. Sentenced on 8/26/2022 to 6 months of incarceration; 12 months of Supervised Release; Special Assessment of $25; Restitution of $500. Knutson received a full pardon on January 20, 2025
Sources
- Primary Documentation
NPR Jan. 6 Defendant DatabaseNPR - Primary Documentation
Underlying court recordCourt record linked by NPR
Case summary, charges, procedural updates and image are drawn from the NPR Jan. 6 archive snapshot dated 2026-09-25 unless otherwise indicated.