“Bob’s Hamburgers” actor sentenced to a year in prison for rioting in the US Capitol

Comedian Jay Johnston was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison for his part in the January 6 Capitol riot.

In July, he pleaded guilty to interfering with law enforcement efforts to prevent a mob of Trump supporters from storming the US Capitol.

Johnston, 56, has been acting in Hollywood since the mid-1990s and was fired from the animated series Bob’s Burgers in December 2021 after being identified as a possible rioter.

Prosecutors had sought a longer prison term for Johnston, whose lawyers argued that the U.S. had “persistently overpriced” the actor’s role in the attack.

Johnston spoke briefly in a Washington, D.C., court on Monday before his sentencing, ABC News reported, and called his role in the attack “reprehensible.”

Judge Carl Nicholls said Johnston’s successful acting career made his involvement “all the more puzzling and disturbing”.

Based on body camera and surveillance footage, authorities said Johnston “participated with other rioters in a group attack” on police officers guarding the entrance to the Capitol and “helped remove a stolen police riot shield.”

One policeman was wounded at this western entrance.

According to U.S. prosecutors, Johnston showed little remorse for his actions, showing “clear knowledge and participation in the violence used by the rioters that day.”

As evidence, prosecutors cited a photo of Johnston dressed as a so-called “QAnon Shaman” at a Halloween party two years after the 2021 incident.

Prosecutors also said Johnston sent messages to friends and family in the days after the riot, claiming the seriousness of the attacks had been “exaggerated by the media”.

Johnston’s attorney, Stanley Woodward, wrote in a sentencing memo that his client was unfairly targeted “because he is a well-known Hollywood actor and the government is using his status to make the public aware.”

Johnston was “essentially blacklisted from Hollywood” and “had been working as a handyman for the past two years – obviously far removed from his actual experience and livelihood in film and television”, Mr Woodward claimed.

Johnston has had supporting roles in the hit comedy The Host, as well as the television series Mr. Show, Arrested Development and Bob’s Burgers, where he voiced the fan-favorite character, Italian restaurateur Jimmy Pesto.

About 1,500 people have been charged in connection with the mass riots on January 6, 2021. Nearly 900 have pleaded guilty to various crimes and more than 180 have been convicted at trial, according to the US Department of Justice.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he will pardon some or all of the rioters he has called “hostages” and “political prisoners” if he wins the Nov. 5 election.

He did not provide details on who he would fire or what criteria he would use to select them.