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Apple TV+ released an excellent series this year called Manhunt, about tracking down John Wilkes Booth after he assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Tobias Menzies plays Edwin Stanton, Lincoln’s Secretary of War, who is adamant that Booth and his conspirators not only be caught, but also tried in court for insurrection. His argument is that the only way to prevent this from ever happening again, is to have a strong, legal demonstration of the consequences. Needless to say, the parallels to January 6, 2021 reverberate loud and clear. The FBI has been doggedly identifying and tracking down more than 1,500 rioters and have seen 1,100 of them successfully convicted. This week saw the sentencing of one more. Actor-writer-comedian Jay Johnston has appeared in Anchorman and Arrested Development, but is probably best known these days for voicing Jimmy Pesto on Bob’s Burgers. On Monday he was sentenced to one year and one day for participating in that shameful day.

Johnston, 55, was sentenced in court on Monday, Oct. 28, after pleading guilty in July to one felony count of civil disorder for obstructing the police during the attacks, the United States District of Columbia attorney’s office stated in a press release.

He was also sentenced to 24 months of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,000 in restitution.

Johnston was arrested and charged in connection with the riots on June 7, 2023. At the time, he faced several other misdemeanors, including unlawful trespassing and attempting to disrupt
government business, according to a federal warrant previously obtained by PEOPLE.

Johnston’s attorney Stanley Woodward wrote in a court memo ahead of his sentencing on Oct. 25, that his involvement in the Jan. 6 riots had been “overstated” by the government “because he is an acclaimed Hollywood actor” and that he had “been blacklisted by Hollywood.” He asked that Johnston’s sentence be reduced to 4-10 months.

However, prosecutors argued in court on Monday that Johnston showed a lack of remorse over his actions as a photo was shared of him allegedly dressed as Jan. 6 rioter Jacob ‘QAnon Shaman’ Chansley at a Halloween party in 2023, per NBC News.

Per the USADC release, court documents note that on Jan. 6, 2021, Johnston allegedly joined a mob of rioters as they gathered at the Lower West Plaza of the U.S. Capitol building in an area known as the “Tunnel” — the site where “the most violent attacks against law enforcement” were carried out by the rioters.

At around 2:00 p.m. local time that day, Johnston was seen filming the vents on his cell phone as he stood with the crowd behind a row of police barricades, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. After 40 minutes as the rioters removed the barricades, he allegedly made his way to the U.S. Capitol building through the Lower West Terrace and onto the Inaugural Stage.

The release further alleges that Johnston made it past the rioters and reached the entrance to the Tunnel at approximately 3:03 p.m., where he “made a series of hand gestures, including pounding his fists together and pointing, appearing to encourage rioters to enter the tunnel.” Johnston exited the Tunnel at around 3:13 p.m.

Before his sentence was handed in court on Monday, Johnston briefly told the court that his role in the Jan. 6 attacks was “reprehensible,” per ABC News.

[From People]

“Because he is an acclaimed Hollywood actor…” GMAFB. Show of hands, who here had ever heard of Jay Johnston before this? Anyone have a poster of him with his Ron Swanson-coded mustache up on their wall as a kid? And for the record, the USADC simply refer to him as “California Man” in their statement on the sentencing. As for his being blacklisted, his lawyer is trying to make it sound like it was because the FBI outed him. No, he’s lost work from colleagues who found his participation in the Jan. 6 riots deplorable, that’s the reason. And yes, Bob’s Burgers absolutely fired his ass when they learned he’d been there. (Sidenote: Is it weird that I was relieved to learn he voiced Bob’s smarmy nemesis Jimmy Pesto? If it had turned out he was Teddy, I think that would have broken me.) What really sent me over the edge, though, was his QAnon Shaman Halloween costume. By the time he did that, it was public knowledge that he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and he knew that the FBI was looking for him. And still he played dress up, making light of that day. There’s nothing funny about this comedian.

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Photos credit: Getty and FBI via NBC