Actor Jay Johnston appears in court on Monday, October 28, 2024, after being sentenced to one year in prison for the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol nearly four years ago. J. Scott Applewhite/AP/AP Hide Caption
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J. Scott Applewhite/AP/AP
WASHINGTON — An actor known for his roles on the TV comedies “Bob’s Burgers” and “Arrested Development” was sentenced Monday to one year in prison for his role in the mob attack on the U.S. Capitol nearly four years ago. received.
Jay Johnston, 56, of Los Angeles, joined other rioters during the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, yelling “heavy ho” at police officers guarding the entrance to the Capitol tunnel. . Prosecutors said Johnston used his cellphone to record the violence around him, while also cracking jokes and interacting with other rioters.
Mr Johnston expressed regret that the incident had “made it even more difficult for police to carry out their duties” on January 6, and said he had never expected the violence to erupt that day.
“I think it’s my own ignorance,” he told U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols. “If I had been more political, I probably would have seen something like that coming.”
The judge who sentenced Johnston to one year and one day in prison allowed him to remain free after the hearing and report to prison at an unspecified date. Nichols said she recognizes she will miss the opportunity to care for her 13-year-old autistic daughter while Johnston is in prison.
“However, his actions on January 6 were deeply problematic and truly reprehensible,” the judge said.
Johnston pleaded guilty in July to interfering with a police officer during a civil disturbance, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
Prosecutors recommended 18 months in prison for Johnston. Their sentencing memo includes a photo of a smiling Johnston dressed as Jacob Chansley, the spear-toting Capitol rioter known as the “QAnon Shaman,” at a Halloween party nearly two years after the siege. It is.
“He considers his participation in one of the most serious crimes against our nation’s democracy a joke,” prosecutors wrote.
Johnston played pizzeria owner Jimmy Pesto Sr. in “Bob’s Burgers,” a police officer in “Arrested Development,” and a brawling newspaper reporter in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.” played. Johnston also appeared on the HBO sketch comedy series “Mr. Show with Bob and David,” starring Bob Odenkirk and David Cross.
Originally from Chicago, Johnston moved to Los Angeles in 1993 to pursue a career as an actor. Defense lawyer Stanley Woodward said that after the riot, Johnston was fired by the producers of Bob’s Burgers, lost a role in a movie based on the show, and was “effectively blacklisted” in Hollywood. It was published,” he said.
“Instead, Mr. Johnston has been working as a handyman for the past two years, which is clearly a far cry from his actual expertise and making a living 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 near the White House on Jan. 6 before heading to the Capitol. He scaled a stone wall using a metal bike rack to reach the West Square of Parliament House, then made his way to the entrance to the tunnel entrance, which was guarded by police on the Lower West Terrace.
“While under the archway, he turned around and waved to other rioters, beckoning them to join the fight with police,” prosecutors wrote.
Once inside the tunnel, Johnston helped other rioters wash away the chemical irritant in their eyes. Another rioter gave him a stolen police shield, which he handed over near the police line. Johnston then joined other rioters in a “wild attack” on police inside the tunnel, with the group pushing an officer against a door frame, prosecutors said.
Mr Johnston recorded himself joking: “I’ll fix the light bulb!” as rioters pushed an orange ladder towards police inside the tunnel.
The day after the riot, Johnston admitted in a text message to an acquaintance that he was at the Capitol on January 6th.
“The news reported it as an attack, which it really wasn’t. And then that’s what happened. It was a mess,” Johnston wrote.
FBI agents seized Johnston’s cell phone during a search of her 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 were convicted and sentenced. Approximately 650 of them received prison sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years.
