This week, “Bob’s Burgers” actor Jay James Johnston asked a federal judge to be lenient. He said that prosecutors overstated his role in fighting with police during the Jan.
6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and that he is using his fame as a famous actor to make a point to the public.
Lawyers for Los Angeles man Johnston, 56, tried to make the case in his sentencing memo that he wasn’t a direct participant in the riots and is only being charged because of his connection to them.
Before his sentencing on Monday, the lawyer argued that he should only spend four to ten months in jail instead of the 18 months that the prosecutors want.
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In the memo, lawyer Stanley Woodward Jr. said, “The government has steadfastly refused to admit that the evidence supporting Mr. Johnston’s indictment does not support the disproportionate and oversized role it accuses Mr. Johnston of playing.” “Mr. Johnston’s actions in this case after what happened on January 6, 2021, show that he truly feels bad about what he did and is willing to take responsibility.”
The memo continued, “Even though Mr. Johnston has admitted to civil disorder in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 231(a)(3), he should only be sentenced for what he did on January 6—not for what happened around him or the fact that he is an actor in Hollywood.”
Court records show that Johnston went from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021, to go to a pro-Trump rally, which he thought would give him a chance to exercise his First Amendment rights.
The memo said, “Mr. Johnston did not wear paramilitary gear or have weapons on him like other people that day.””He wore a normal, unremarkable outfit of gray pants, tan shoes, a camouflage-patterned shirt, a camouflage-patterned neck gaiter (which was common during the COVID-19 pandemic and was used as a mask-like face covering), and a black leather jacket.”
His lawyer said that Johnston quickly found himself on the Lower West Terrace by the Tunnel that leads into the Capitol building. it was a very busy place. People there threw things at police, sprayed them with mace, and pushed the officers who were guarding the Tunnel.
The memo stated that Mr. Johnston’s actions were clearly not illegal, and he believes that the charge against him was only brought against him because he was present at the scene of the chaos by the Tunnel.
According to the government, Johnston’s involvement in the Tunnel led to a “heave-ho” pushing match between protesters and police. His lawyer, though, said it was clear that the “heave-ho” happened around Johnston and not because he did something or even caused it.
Johnston was “in” the “heave ho” event, but his lawyer said, “he cannot be burdened by or be wholly responsible for the collective actions of everyone around him that led to his involvement, nor can the intended consequences of others intentionally engaging in the pushing be transferred to Mr. Johnston. To put it another way, Mr. Johnston was charged by association.”
The memo said that because he took part in the uprising, the film and TV industries have effectively blacklisted him. He has been publicly dropped from many projects, including his role as Jimmy Pesto, Sr.’s voice actor on the animated show “Bob’s Burgers.”
His lawyer said he now works as a handyman and shares care of his autistic 13-year-old daughter with her mother.
In their sentencing memo, prosecutors said Johnston doesn’t feel bad about what he did and asked for 18 months in prison. Officials say he joined other rioters in calling for a “shield wall” and “assisted other rioters in a group attack on the officers guarding the […] lower west terrace entrance.”
Afterward, prosecutors say he wrote messages to family and friends saying that the news stories about what happened at the Capitol were exaggerated and that the police and Antifa planned the whole thing.
For two years after the riot, prosecutors said he even dressed up as Jacob Chansley, the “QAnon Shaman,” at a Halloween party to make fun of his role in it.
The FBI is said to have received a text message from one of Johnston’s friends in which he admitted to being at the Capitol that day and said, “The news has presented it as an attack.” It wasn’t really. I felt like it turned into that. It was a mess. I was slapped and gassed with tear gas, and I thought it was pretty gross.
A lot of actors, including Johnston, have been caught taking part in the riots. One of them is Proud Boy, a gay adult film star. Another is an actor who has been in the TV shows “S.W.A.T,” “Lethal Weapon,” and “NCIS: Los Angeles.”
