South Carolina man who led mob in Jan. 6 Capitol riot and shouted 'Where you at, Nancy' pleads guilty

John Monk, The State on Oct 11, 2024

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A 41-year-old South Carolina man who led rioters in the Jan. 6 Capitol breach and shouted “Where you at, Nancy?” has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstructing law enforcement during the riot.

William “Robbie” Norwood III, of Greer, pleaded guilty on Thursday before U.S. Judge Carl Nichols in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Nichols will sentence Norwood on Feb. 21.

The crime carries a maximum sentence of five years and a $250,000 fine, according to Norwood’s plea agreement with the government. Estimated sentencing guidelines in Norwood’s case indicate he could get a prison sentence between eight and 14 months. The estimated range of his fine is between $4,000 and $40,000.

Norwood is the 22nd South Carolinian to plead guilty to charges in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. A jury found another South Carolinian guilty. Charges against five others are pending. Like many defendants in the riot, Norwood was turned in by an acquaintance shocked at his actions after the acquaintance heard him bragging about them. Norwood’s own videos were also evidence in the case.

Norwood, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, was in Washington attending Trump’s Stop the Steal rally on Jan. 6, 2021, when he joined rioters at the Capitol building intent on disrupting a joint session of Congress, according to the U.S. Justice Department and court records. At the time, Congress had assembled to count electoral votes — a necessary step to confirm Joe Biden’s election to the presidency.

Norwood was at the lead of other rioters pushing on doors being closed by police and eventually forced them open, an act which “allowed hundreds of rioters to enter the U.S. Capitol Building from the outside,” according to a statement of facts in his case.

During the riot, Norwood also took selfie videos of himself entering offices in the Capitol including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and shouting such things as “Where you at Nancy?” and “Go home police!” and “Bye you b—s.”

Norwood also recorded a one-minute video inside the Capitol Rotunda that showed a line of Metropolitan Police Department officers.

“During the video, Norwood can be heard saying, “Oh these a—, trying to push us out. . . . Should we take our house back? Our house. Y’all are a bunch of p—. It’s about to go down bro.” Norwood then turns the camera on himself and says, “It’s about to go down. Cause I’m gonna go (unintelligible) guns or their asps and attack these m—f— later. No f— around, no no”, according to a Justice Department news release.

Norwood also took a U.S. Capitol Police helmet and plate carrier from a bin outside the building. The helmet and plate carrier are valued at approximately $578, according to a statement of facts in the case.

Norwood lied to agents by claiming to have left the helmet and plate carrier in a cabinet in a Washington hotel room when, in fact, he took the helmet and plate carrier back with him to South Carolina and hid them in a portable trailer that he parked on a friend’s property, according to the statement of facts.

Norwood, arrested in February 2021, was one of the first South Carolinians charged in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riots. Since then, 27 more have been arrested.

Norwood was among the first rioters who entered the Capitol, going into the building at 2:23 p.m., just minutes after the Secret Service hustled then-Vice President Mike Pence out of the Senate chamber.

Pence was at the Capitol that day to preside over Congress’s joint session. The electoral votes, which were counted later that night after a five-hour delay, showed that Trump had lost to Biden.

Despite more than 60 court cases in swing states that determined no voting fraud had taken place, and numerous recounts and audits of votes, no evidence exists of any fraud sizable enough to have tipped the election to Trump. Trump, currently the Republican nominee for the presidency, continues to issue false claims that he won the election and has indicated that if elected to the presidency again, he may free or pardon those convicted in the Jan. 6 riot.

In all, more than 1,532 people have been charged in nearly all 50 states for crimes related to the breach of the Capitol, including more than 571 individuals charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, a felony, according to the Justice Department.

The FBI’s investigation remains ongoing.