‘Bob’s Burgers’ actor Jay Johnston sentenced to 1 year in prison for role in Capitol riot

WASHINGTON – An actor known for his roles in the television comedies “Bob’s Burgers” and “Arrested Development” was sentenced Monday to a year in prison for his role in a mob attack on the US Capitol almost four years ago.

Jay Johnston, 56, of Los Angeles, joined other rioters in a “heave ho” action against police officers guarding a tunnel entrance to the Capitol during the January 6, 2021 riot. Johnston also made jokes and interacted with other rioters while using a cellphone to record the violence happening around him, prosecutors said.

Johnston expressed regret that he had made it “more difficult for the police to do their job” on January 6. He said he never imagined a riot would break out that day.

“I think that was due to my own ignorance,” he told U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. “If I had been more political, I might have seen that coming.”

The judge, who sentenced Johnston to a year and a day in prison, allowed him to remain free after the hearing and report to prison on a date to be determined. Nichols said he realizes Johnston will miss caring for his 13-year-old autistic daughter while behind bars.

“But his behavior on January 6 was quite problematic. Actually reprehensible,” said the judge.

Johnston pleaded guilty in July interfering with police officers during a civil unrest, a crime punishable by a maximum prison sentence of five years.

Prosecutors have recommended an 18-month prison sentence for Johnston. Their sentencing memo includes a photo of a smiling Johnston, dressed as Jacob Chansleythe spear-carrying Capitol rioter known as the “QAnon Shaman” at a Halloween party about two years after the siege.

“He thinks his participation in one of the most serious crimes against our democracy is a joke.” prosecutors wrote.

Johnston played pizzeria owner Jimmy Pesto Sr. in “Bob’s Burgers,” a police officer in “Arrested Development” and a street-fighting reporter in the movie “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” Johnston also appeared in ‘Mr. Show with Bob and David,” an HBO sketch comedy series starring Bob Odenkirk and David Cross.

Born in Chicago, Johnston moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue a career acting career. After the riot, Johnston was fired by the creator of “Bob’s Burgers,” lost a role in a movie based on the show and is “essentially blacklisted” in Hollywood, attorney Stanley Woodward said.

“Instead, Mr. Johnston has spent the last two years working as a handyman – which is clearly a far cry from his actual expertise and livelihood in film and television,” Woodward wrote.

Woodward accused the government of exaggerating Johnston’s participation in the riots “because he is an acclaimed Hollywood actor.”

Johnston attended then-President Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” rally at the White House on Jan. 6 before marching to the Capitol. He used a metal bicycle rack to climb over a stone wall to reach the Capitol’s West Plaza before heading to the mouth of a tunnel entrance that police were guarding on the Lower West Terrace.

“While under the gate, he turned and waved at other rioters, beckoning them to join him in fighting the police,” prosecutors wrote.

As he entered the tunnel, Johnston helped other rioters flush chemical irritants from their eyes. Another rioter gave him a stolen police shield, which he handed over closer to the police line. Johnston then joined other rioters in a “heave ho” action against police in the tunnel, a collective effort that left one officer crushed against a door frame, prosecutors said.

Johnston filmed himself joking as rioters pushed an orange ladder toward police in the tunnel, saying, “We’re going to get those light bulbs fixed!”

A day after the riot, Johnston acknowledged in a text message to an acquaintance that he was at the Capitol on January 6.

“The news has presented it as an attack. It actually wasn’t. Thought it kind of turned out that way. It was a mess,” Johnston wrote.

FBI agents seized Johnston’s cellphone when they searched his California home in June 2021.

More than 1,500 people have been charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riot. More than 1,000 rioters have been convicted. About 650 of them received prison sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years.