Artist Sara Radovanovitch, fiancée of J6 defendant Jay Johnston, is producing a series of "free thinkers" paintings throughout 2024.
Profits from the paintings will go toward her family along with assisting Johnston in his upcoming July trial date regarding his alleged involvement in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6th, 2021.
January's Free Thinkers piece features the late conservative journalist and Breitbart News founder, Andrew Breitbart.
A custom frame can be built for those interested in the original 24" x 33" painting. A limited amount of signed and numbered prints will also be available for purchase, per Radovanovitch.
"Every month this year, I'm painting a different person who challenged the establishment, the MSM, and who I feel is important to our First Amendment," Radovanovitch wrote.
"Andrew Breitbart was someone who really shook things up," Los Angeles native Radovanovitch told SCNR. "There’s something you learn from living in Los Angeles. A kind of insider perspective that no one else really understands unless you’ve rubbed elbows with these same types of people for years. He understood the game and all of the smoke and mirrors, and it gave him an understanding of how things actually work."
"He used that understanding to push back," she added. "So much of what he was warning us about has been right."
Radovanovitch said she wished Breitbart was alive to witness the country's disorder in recent years.
"When I was sitting here trying to figure out how to process everything our family has been going through, my outlet has always been art," she said. "After all, ‘politics is downstream of culture,' so who better to start off an art series with than Andrew Breitbart himself."
Johnston, an actor, writer and voiceover artist for over 30 years in the industry, faced intense backlash after the FBI shared two photos of him in a March 2021 post on X, then Twitter, asking the public’s assistance in identifying him as someone present at the Capitol on Jan. 6. One of the out-of-context cropped photos provided by the FBI features Johnston appearing to hold a phone while the other features Johnston wearing a camouflage neck gaiter.
The FBI appeared to claim Johnston, who was identified by social media users, was part of a group of those present who engaged in violence at the Capitol.
Johnston, Radovanovitch and family were subjected to harassment including stalking and personal threats. The actor was also dropped by his agent and effectively blacklisted from the industry after the FBI released his photo.
On June 1, 2021, the FBI raided Johnston's home and held him at gunpoint in front of his family in the front yard of their home. The actor was not arrested by federal authorities for his alleged involvement in the Capitol riot until two years later on June 7 last year. Johnston is currently out on bond in preparation for his July trial date.
"Jay doesn’t have a violent bone in his body," Johnston's fiancée wrote in the family's GiveSendGo campaign. "He is a wonderful father and devoted to his family, loved by his neighbors and always the first person to help others in need."
Johnston has appeared in a series of films over his career including Men in Black II, Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, and Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny. The actor also acted in television series, including Mr. Show and The Sarah Silverman Program, and also voiced Jimmy Pesto on the long-running animated sitcom Bob's Burgers from 2011 until 2021.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article erroneously stated that the FBI raid of Johnston’s home occurred in 2023, not 2021.
