'Bob's Burgers' Actor Jay Johnston Arrested For Alleged Participation In Jan. 6 Riot

Sara Boboltz
·2 min read
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Jay Johnston, an actor known for “Mr. Show,” “Bob’s Burgers” and “Arrested Development,” was arrested in Los Angeles Wednesday for his alleged role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to a signed arrest warrant.

He was slapped with four charges, including entering a restricted building and civil disorder.

Johnston was suspected for over two years to have participated in the riot. Social media users almost immediately pointed out his resemblance to an individual in the FBI’s “photo 247” in the weeks following the attack.

The Daily Beast reported in December 2021 that Johnston had said he was at the Jan. 6 protest, citing two sources on the set of a film Johnston was working on. The Beast also reported that Johnston had been banned from “Bob’s Burgers,” where he’d voiced the titular character’s chief business rival, Jimmy Pesto Sr.

Prosecutors filed paperwork to bring Johnston into custody Monday. It was unsealed by a judge following his arrest.

Investigators say Johnston pushed against police with a stolen police shield at a tunneled entrance to the Capitol and provided aid to other rioters, helping to rinse out their eyes with bottled water. Other rioters were found to have brought bear spray and other chemical irritants with them, which they deployed against police officers.

The actor was allegedly part of a “shield wall” of protesters who used the plastic implements to heave themselves against defending law enforcement in the tunnel.

Johnston appeared in more than two dozen episodes of “Mr. Show,” a sketch-comedy show created by David Cross and Bob Odenkirk in the 1990s. He went on to appear in “Arrested Development” as Officer Taylor, who investigates the sinking of the family’s yacht, and “Better Call Saul,” as former Mesa Verde Bank president Don Wachtell.

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