An attorney for actor Jay Johnston, seen in a 2009 photo, said the government has “persistently overstated” his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion. (Noel Vasquez / Getty Images)
By Ole Braatelien October 31, 2024 at 2:40pm
Hollywood actor Jay Johnston was sentenced to federal prison Monday for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol incursion.
Johnston received a sentencing of 12 months and a day, though federal prosecutors pushed for 18 months, NBC News reported.
The actor is most famous for his roles in “Anchorman,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “Mr. Show” and “Arrested Development.”
OMG: Jay Johnston is a loving father & career Hollywood comedian.
He didn’t hurt anyone or break anything on J6–he only dared to support President Trump. He was raided by the FBI in 2021, but not charged…
but Kamala’s DOJ lied, and *now* they’re throwing him in prison?
MADNESS pic.twitter.com/6V9C8FUDGm— John Strand (@JohnStrandUSA) October 31, 2024
Arrested in June 2023, Johnston pleaded guilty in July this year to a felony offense of obstructing officers during a civil disorder.
In a sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors said that Johnston “was part of a massive riot that almost succeeded in preventing the certification vote from being carried out.”
The memorandum added that Johnston spent nearly four hours in “the most violent areas of the riot — the West Plaza and the tunnel.”
While in the tunnel, Johnston allegedly participated in a “shield wall” and a “heave-ho” push against police, during which Metropolitan Police Department Officer Daniel Hodges was pinned against a door frame.
Have Jan. 6 prisoners been treated unfairly?
He also helped fellow protesters wash pepper spray from their eyes.
Johnston’s woes surrounding his role on Jan. 6 began before he was arrested in 2023, however.
Stanley Woodward, Johnston’s lawyer, described in a sentencing memorandum the actor’s difficulty finding work since his involvement on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Chagrined by the scorn he has faced in Hollywood and despite his established successful career as an actor, Mr. Johnston has essentially been blacklisted by Hollywood, and has since not been able to find work in acting,” Woodward said.
“Instead, Mr. Johnston has worked as a handyman for the last two years — an obvious far cry from his actual expertise and livelihood in film and television.”
Woodward also asserted that Johnston was being targeted by the federal government for political reasons.
“Since his indictment in July 2023, the government has persistently overstated Mr. Johnston’s participation at the Capitol that day: because he is an acclaimed Hollywood actor, and the government is using his status to make a point to the public,” Woodward said.
“At the same time, the government has steadfastly refused to admit that the evidence in support of Mr. Johnston’s indictment does not support the oversized and disproportionate role it accuses Mr. Johnston of playing,” he said.
Johnston is, of course, not the only Jan. 6 protester being prosecuted.
More than 1,500 people have been arrested in connection with the events that day, and 1,100 defendants have been convicted so far, according to NBC News.
More than half of those convicted received sentences ranging from a few days to 22 years in prison.
Ole Braatelien has written for The Western Journal since 2022. He earned his bachelor’s from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
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