WASHINGTON – A veteran comedian with roles in “Mr. Show,” “Arrested Development,” “Bob’s Burgers,” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” pleaded guilty in connection with his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Jay Johnston, wearing a gray suit, pleaded guilty to felony obstructing police officers during a civil disorder. “Guilty,” Johnson said when asked by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols how he pleaded. Nichols set a sentencing hearing for Oct. 7 at 10 a.m., asking federal prosecutors to turn in their sentencing memorandum by Sept. 30 and the defense to turn in theirs by Oct. 3.
Following his arrest, Johnston was indicted by a federal grand jury along with four other defendants on January 6; The government alleged that all five men took part in the battle in the lower west tunnel leading to the Capitol, where some of the worst violence between protesters and law enforcement occurred on January 6.
The FBI claimed that video footage showed Johnston “delivered a police shield stolen from the U.S. Capitol to other protesters” and that Johnston “participated with other protesters in a group attack” on officers protecting the lower west tunnel.
Johnston was listed as No. 247 on the FBI’s Capitol Violence website, where the agency posts photos of some of its most wanted rioters from the Capitol attack. The FBI said an attorney representing Johnston called the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center in March 2021 to identify him. The agency said it spoke with three associates of Johnston, one of whom sent the FBI a text message confirming his presence at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“The news presented this as an attack. Actually it wasn’t. I thought it turned into this,” Johnston wrote in that text message. “It was a mess. I was attacked and tear gassed and I found it quite unpleasant.
Johnston faced professional backlash long before he was accused in connection with the attack: The character he voiced on “Bob’s Burgers,” Jimmy Pesto Sr., was written off the show because of Johnston’s involvement in the Capitol attack, the Daily Beast reports. reported in December 2021. The character was later revived with a different voice actor.
Early in his Hollywood career, Johnston had regularly pictured police officers, including on “The Sarah Silverman Show” and “Arrested Development.” Johnston is also known for his role in “The history of Everest” sketch, where he played a man who repeatedly fell into racks of thimbles on the wall after returning home from climbing Mount Everest and trying to tell the story of the climb. Johnston also played a member of Wes Mantooth’s news team during the epic battle scene in “The Anchor”.
In the more than 3.5 years since the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the FBI has made more than 1,400 arrests and secured more than 1,000 convictions. Although hundreds of low-level defendants on January 6 were sentenced to probation, more than 540 prison sentences were handed down, ranging from a few days behind bars to 22 years in federal prison for Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys convicted of seditious crimes. conspiracy.
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling on the obstruction of an official prosecution charge used against hundreds of defendants on January 6 is expected to have a ripple effect on many of these cases. The government has less than a year and a half to charge hundreds of January 6 protesters who were identified by online detectives (but were not arrested by the FBI) before the statute of limitations expires in early 2026.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
