Known for playing a poor sap whose “ ” was overshadowed by repeated pratfalls, comedian Jay Johnston will reportedly plead guilty to charges stemming from his participation in the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021, . Johnston was arrested and charged last year with felony obstruction of officers and several misdemeanors. Johnston had spent the 2000s on celebrated comedies like , , and .
As Reilly notes, Johnston is “the only known man to have participated in both the News Fight in (2004) and the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol (2021).” He’s also probably the only one from the News Fight to have his picture tweeted by the actual Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In March 2021, the FBI posted that they were looking for any information about the man in photo 247, who looked curiously like cast member Jay Johnston. Though nothing was confirmed, Johnston’s then-alleged participation became a whispered in-joke in comedy circles, particularly those featuring veterans. By December 2021, .
His final appearance, season 11’s “Bridge Over Troubled Rudy,” aired on May 2nd, 2021. Johnston has since been replaced by voice actor Eric Bauza. It would take another two years for authorities to catch up with the man in photo 247.
, the director of Johnston’s last screen credit, , Lucas Astram said Johnston admitted to him that he was at the Capitol to protest because “he believed there was fraud” (there wasn’t), and he “wanted to show his support” (boy, did he ever). Perh.