Johnson, a former National Basketball Association star, was speaking at a dinner for Seeds of HOPE at a charter school in the city when 32-year-old Sean Thompson struck the mayor in the face with a pie, authorities say.
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He was ordered to have no contact with Johnson for three years.
Thompson said he’s fed up with Johnson’s lack of help for the homeless with all his attention on his “golden” project, an arena named the Golden 1 Center.
Asked if he would do it again, Thompson told the Sacramento Bee “Absolutely”.
“He looked at me for a moment then he started swinging and then a bunch of other people joined in and started swinging on me with him”, Thompson said.
According to Miller’s sources, “a protester ran at the mayor and threw a store-bought pie in his face”. “And I will say I picked a coconut cream pie because I knew there was a chance I might back out at the last minute and I personally really like coconut cream pie”.
He said the mayor turned and hit him at least twice “and pretty hard”.
However, Thompson said he felt bad for sending a message of violence “to a lot of people, and I’m sorry I scared a lot of people”. Bail for Thompson has been set at $100,000.
Vellucci wrote in an email to the Associated Press that he met Thompson five years ago and described him as a nonviolent person who participated in some of the first Black Lives Matter protests in Sacramento in 2014 and in Occupy Sacramento rallies before that.
“He simply wanted to make a statement”, he said of Thompson.
Eyewitnesses state that Johnson tackled Sean Johnson, who was later arrested on suspicion of assaulting a public official, and landed 5 to 10 punches to his face.
Police and Johnson’s chief of staff said Thompson was not previously known to the mayor and his staff.
Thompson hopes in the future any other politician will spend more time and energy focusing on helping the people and voters “rise up and be better citizens, especially those disenfranchised voters, because that’s how you build a better community”.
Johnson is well-known for his efforts to revitalize Oak Park, a predominantly African-American neighborhood.
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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. In the booking photo provided by the Sacramento Police Department there are visible cuts and bruising around Thompson’s left eye.
