Feds Arrest ‘Bob’s Burgers’ Actor Jay Johnston Over Jan. 6 Capitol Siege; Faces Obstruction & Other Charges

Dominic Patten
·3 min read

Jay Johnston was arrested today in Los Angeles for his participation in the January 6 insurrection and attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The benched Bob’s Burgers actor surrendered to the FBI at its field office Wednesday, a day after the Justice Department issued warrant for him (read it here). Johnston is expected in federal court later today. (Update, 7:45 PM: Johnston made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court this afternoon. He was freed on $25,000 bail and is set to participate in a remote hearing on June 13.)

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For taking part in a “group assault,” according to other court documents, Johnston has been charged with obstruction of law enforcement performing their duties as well as misdemeanors of entering a restricted area and hampering the conduct of government business (read it here).

Sought by the FBI since March 2021, the involvement of the man who voiced Jimmy Pesto in dozens of episodes of the Fox animated series wasn’t exactly breaking news. An alum of Mr. Show with Bob and David, Better Call Saul and The Sarah Silverman Program, Johnston was sidelined from Bob’s Burgers back in December 2021 for being among the Donald Trump-supporting MAGA mob that stormed the Capitol that day nearly 2½ ago.

As they have with literally thousands of suspects, the feds put out photos of Johnston not long after the January 6 attack:

As the screenshot-heavy documents make clear, the circulation of the images of Johnston got a pretty quick response:

On or about March 8, 2021, an attorney contacted the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center (“NTOC”) and stated that s/he represented JAY JAMES JOHNSTON, who was the individual pictured in publicly disseminated photographs 247-AFO.

The FBI has interviewed three current or former associates of JOHNSTON, all of whom identified JOHNSTON as the individual in the above photographs of 247-AFO. One of these associates provided the FBI with a text message in which JOHNSTON acknowledged being at the Capitol on January 6, stating “The news has presented it as an attack. It actually wasn’t. Thought it kind of turned into that. It was a mess. Got maced and tear gassed and I found it quite untastic.”

Records from United Airlines show that JOHNSTON had a round-trip flight reservation from Los Angeles, California to Washington, D.C. departing on January 4, 2021 and returning on January 7, 2021.

More than 1,000 January 6 rioters have been arrested so far, with nearly 280 behind bars or the about 490 sentenced.

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