TOUGH BREAK

‘Bob’s Burgers’ Actor Jay Johnston Gets a Year in Jail for Jan. 6 Crimes

Jay Johnston eventually pleaded guilty to obstructing law enforcement officers on Jan. 6.

Jay Johnston, the comedic actor who attended the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, was sentenced to one year in prison on Monday—months after pleading guilty to charges of obstructing law enforcement officers. According to prosecutors, Johnston helped rioters build a “shield wall” in the Lower West Terrace tunnel entrance, then participated in a “heave-ho” push that pinned an officer against a doorframe. A sentencing memo filed by prosecutors also accused him of “making light” of the events by claiming the riot was a “‘setup’ by police and Antifa,” and later dressing up as the “QAnon Shaman” for Halloween in 2022. Before the riot, Johnston voiced the pizzeria owner Jimmy Pesto in Bob’s Burgers, and had other notable roles in Arrested Development, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and Mr. Show with Bob and David. He was fired from Bob’s Burgers and was “blacklisted” in Hollywood since the riot, his attorneys claimed in their own sentencing memo filed last week. He has spent the past two years working as a handyman, his lawyers said. At his sentencing, Johnston admitted to U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols that he “made it more difficult for the police to do their job” and claimed he never thought the rally would transform into a “riot,” the Associated Press reported.