‘Bob’s Burgers’ Actor Jay Johnston Gets 1 Year In Prison For Jan. 6 Riot

Topline

Jay Johnston, an actor who had roles in “Anchorman” and “Bob’s Burgers,” was sentenced to roughly a year in prison on Monday for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot after he pleaded guilty to a felony offense of obstructing officers during a civil disorder—marking the latest high-profile name to be sentenced for the riot.

Key Facts

Johnston received a sentence of 12 months and one day, multiple outlets reported Monday—a higher sentence than requested by his legal team, which asked for four to 10 months, but still lower than the maximum sentence of five years.

During the Jan. 6 riot, prosecutors alleged Johnston participated in a “group push” against police officers that caused one officer to be “crushed between the crowd and the door,” making it difficult for him to breathe and causing pain that required medical treatment.

There were also still photos of Johnston at the riot depicting him holding a stolen shield from an officer to create a “shield wall” with other rioters.

Johnston was arrested in June 2023 and pleaded guilty to the felony offense this past July.

Johnston’s lawyer declined to comment to Forbes.

Big Number

1,488. That’s at least how many defendants had been charged in relation to the Jan. 6 riot, the Justice Department said in August. People were charged in almost every state and the District of Columbia, and some 1,417 of those people were charged with entering or remaining in a restricted federal building or grounds.

Key Background

Johnston worked as an actor since the early 1990s, with some of his most notable roles including voicing the character of Jimmy Pesto, Sr. on “Bob’s Burgers” and Officer Taylor in “Arrested Development.” Johnston was identified as a riot attendee after the FBI tweeted a photo of a man at the riot and asked for help identifying him, and court documents said an attorney who said they represented him and three other associates identified him. After the riot, Johnston’s character was written out of “Bob’s Burgers” in 2021 and later added back in with a different voice actor, NBC News reported. Most recently, Johnston’s lawyers said he has been working as a handyman after “effectively (being) blacklisted by the film and television industry” following the riot. The sentencing memo from his team said Johnston “has not been able to sustain his livelihood as an actor after his involvement” on Jan. 6, and that working as a handyman is “an obvious far cry from his actual expertise and livelihood in film and television.”

Further Reading