New pictures are being released of the attack on Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson during Wednesday night’s charity dinner.
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Thompson, who suffered lacerations on his face from the mayor fighting back, says the Johnson’s reaction wasn’t appropriate. She said he looked shocked and swung at the man multiple times, but she didn’t see him land any punches.
Thompson walked near the mayor, pulled a coconut-cream pie from a bag, and smacked the pie into Johnson’s face.
Sean Thompson, a member of the Occupy movement, is being held at the Sacramento County jail on charges of felony assault on a public official, and misdemeanor battery on school property. No guests at the charity dinner have provided cell phone photos or videos to the media or published them publicly on social media.
Thompson was treated for a minor injury before he was taken to be booked into jail.
While some are criticizing the mayor’s actions, others commended him.
Asked if he could say anything to Johnson, Thompson was pretty succinct in his evaluation of the mayor. His signature achievement in office was getting a $550 million arena built for the Kings. Of his politically motivated pieing, he said: “I feel bad that I sent the message to a lot of people of violence and that I sent a message that would scare people, because that wasn’t my intention”.
But if he chickened out, at least Sean Thompson had dessert.
Thompson, 32, told the Bee that he was impressed with Johnson when he burst onto the political scene in 2008, but quickly changed his opinion of the former Suns guard.
Thompson says he’s fed up with Mayor Johnson’s lack of help for the homeless, with all his attention on his golden project.
“Whether you’re hit in the face with a pie or a fist, you’ve been assaulted and you’re generally allowed to respond with similar force”, said Rory Little, a former litigator and professor at University of California Hastings College of the Law.
“It was a coconut cream pie”, Thompson told the Sacramento Bee. He says he felt pressured to do something to send a message and embarrass Mayor Johnson. He was busy helping high school students prepare the dinner with local ingredients, he said.
Johnson, who had a long career as an NBA All-Star with the Phoenix Suns and a brief stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, has about two months left as mayor after deciding not to seek a third term.
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