What did Jay Johnston do? Bob’s Burgers actor handed prison sentence over January 6 Capitol riot involvement

JAY Johnston was a rising star, known for his roles in Arrested Development and as Jimmy Pesto in Bob’s Burgers, before a shocking revelation brought his career to a standstill. 

The actor made headlines when he appeared in court for his involvement in the January 6 riots in Washington D.C, which sought to overturn the results of the 2020 American Election. 

Johnston's beloved cartoon character 

Johnston was born in 1968 and was raised in Chicago, Illinois with his younger brother Tim. 

He earned a degree in acting at Columbia College Chicago in 1993 and began to try out comedy on stage. 

From 1995 until 1998, he was a sketch actor and writer on Mr Show with Bob and David, before landing a role on the beloved sit-com Arrested Development. 

Johnston also starred on The Sarah Silverman Podcast, where he had his first major leading role, but most fans were introduced to him through Bob’s Burgers in 2021. 

He played Jimmy Pesto Sr, the show’s villain, who runs a rival restaurant which always seems to be doing better than show’s titular restaurant. 

Fans were shocked when Johnston was suddenly fired from the show in 2021, as a video showing the actor at the January 6 riots in Washington D.C., surfaced online. 

He was replaced by Eric Bauza, who had played some minor roles on the show.

Johnston’s role in a shocking insurrection 

On January 6, 2021, a group of Donald Trump supporters stormed the capital of the United States: Washington D.C.

They hoped to keep the then-President Trump in power by occupying the Capitol and preventing a joint session of Congress, who needed to count the electoral college votes to formalise Joe Biden’s victory. 

Eventually, the attack was unsuccessful with Trump’s own vice president, Mike Pence, stating that Biden had won the election.

In March 2021, a video surfaced which seemed to show Jay Johnston taking part in the attack which shook America to its core. 

The FBI posted the video to their Twitter (now X) account and asked users of the social media platform if they knew the man’s identity.

Months later, in December, friends of Johnston’s confirmed in a Daily Beast article that he had been present at the attack. 

Shortly after it was confirmed that Johnston had taken part in the riot, he was fired from Bob’s Burgers.

Johnston’s sentencing 

The FBI arrested Johnston on June 7, 2023, and charged him with felony obstruction of officers during civil disorder along with several misdemeanor offenses. 

Johnston pled guilty to the felony charge on July 8, 2024. 

I made it more difficult for the police to do their job

Jay Johnston

On October 28 of that same year, he was sentenced to one year and one day in prison by Judge Car Nichols and was ordered to pay $2000 in restitution.

The judge also sentenced Johnston to 40 hours of community service. 

In court, Johnston said: “I made it more difficult for the police to do their job. 

“I never thought a riot would break out. 

“That was because of my own ignorance.”

However, the prosecution had stated during proceedings that: “Jay Johnston sent messages to friends and family in the days after January 6th claiming the events at the U.S. Capitol were exaggerated by the media and that it was a 'setup' by the police and Antifa despite his clear knowledge of and participation in the violence used by rioters that day."