The man, identified as 32-year-old Sean Thompson, reportedly held Johnson’s arm and threw a pie on the mayor’s face.
Advertisement
A protester says he put a pie in Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s face because he disagrees with the mayor’s priorities and has accomplished little with peaceful activism.
Thompson was arrested on felony charges of assaulting a public official.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson punched a man after being hit with a pie at a benefit dinner on Wednesday evening. He was not charged.
UFC star Uriah Faber was at the event, and was later brought up to the podium, where he and Johnson “joked about the assault”.
Thompson had red and blue bruises and a roughly 1-inch line of stitches under his left eye when he spoke to The Associated Press in jail. He said the mayor did jokingly call him out later in the event wondering where the fighter was to back him up. The enraged Johnson then tackled Thompson to the ground and began to hit him in the face with a closed fist – 5-10 times according to witnesses.
Even if, as you told The Sacramento Bee, said pie-ing was “the least violent action I could take”, such actions will not go unanswered.
Johnson is in his final few months as mayor and has been plagued by a number of scandals, ranging from improper use of funds to multiple sexual assault accusations.
Meanwhile, Johnson appears to have come away mostly unscathed – tweeting out last night his appreciation for the police officers on scene.
“One witness described it as a ‘bloody pulp, ‘” Nick Miller, of the East Bay Express wrote.
Police said Thompson received minor injuries. “He is home with his family …”
“The mayor is doing well and appreciates everyone’s support”, Strait said. “The whole thing is just shocking”. He was arrested at a protest in 2011, per the Sacramento City Express.
Advertisement
Johnson has denied the allegations and that they had anything to do with his decision to leave office.
