‘Bob’s Burgers’ Star Jay Johnston Pleads Guilty to Felony After January 6 Riot

“Bob’s Burgers” alum Jay Johnston won’t be slinging animated pizzas anymore.

The voice actor and star who also appeared in “Anchorman” has pled guilty to the felony charge of civil disorder after interfering with police officers during the January 6, 2021 insurrection. Johnston faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison; he will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols on October 7.

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Johnston previously voiced “Bob’s Burgers” villain Jimmy Pesto on the beloved Fox series. His character appeared in 43 episodes across 11 seasons, with Johnston’s final voice acting airing in Season 11 episode “The Bridge Over Troubled Rudy” on May 2, 2021.

The Daily Beast reported at the time that Johnston was “banned” from the series after it was revealed he was part of the Jan. 6 riots. Johnston’s former “Bob’s Burgers” co-star Tim Heidecker tweeted that he had “fully confirmed through reliable sources” that Johnston was in the videos circulated by the FBI before his apprehension. Johnston is also infamously a known associate of Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes.

Johnston was arrested in June 2023 and is one of the 1,400 people charged with federal crimes from the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Prosecutors concluded that Johnston “participated with other rioters in a group assault on the officers,” and later “joined other rioters in pushing repeatedly against the defending police officers,” as reported by CBS News. The case included more than a dozen screen grabs of video from the riot with Johnston helping “coordinate the timing of the pushes by yelling ‘Heave! Ho!'” against police officers.

The FBI shared a text message in which Johnston confirmed he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6. “The news has presented it as an attack. It actually wasn’t. Thought it kind of turned into that. It was a mess,” he wrote. “Got maced and tear gassed and I found it quite untastic.”

Johnston’s attorney Stanley Woodward declined to comment.

Johnston was also a Second City alum and previously appeared on HBO sketch comedy series “Mr. Show with Bob and David,” starring Bob Odenkirk and David Cross.

Former President Donald Trump has publicly pledged to pardon Jan. 6 defendants if reelected. However, Trump has not specified whether or not he would seek to settle defendants’ restitution payments.

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