Ex-NBA Star, Current Mayor Assaulted—With Pie

Sacramento's Kevin Johnson then tackled and subdued the thrower
By Linda Hervieux,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 22, 2016 12:39 PM CDT
Ex-NBA Star, Current Mayor Assaulted—With Pie
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson was hit in the face with a pie on Wednesday night.   (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson was hit in the face with a pie Wednesday night—and there wasn't a clown in sight. The former NBA star was a guest at a fundraising event when a man wielding the pie lunged at Johnson, landing it smack in his face, reports the East Bay Express. Johnson tackled the man and punched him repeatedly, witnesses tell the newspaper. (The police mug shot, in the photo gallery, bears that out.) Cops arrested Sean Thompson, 32, at the event at Sacramento Charter High School, and he was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Thompson, who was charged with felony assault of a public official, is a member of Occupy San Francisco, notes Heavy. He was arrested at a protest in 2011, per the Sacramento City Express.

About 200 people, including some of the city's top restaurateurs, saw the incident unfold around 6:40pm as Johnson attended a Seeds of HOPE dinner on behalf of "food literacy." His chief of staff said the assault was no joke. "I was standing right there, and I'm still pretty shaken up," she said, per AP. The two-term Johnson, who is not running for reelection, thanked the police on Twitter. "Appreciate everyone. I'm doing fine," he wrote. "Be safe everyone." Police did not comment on why the mayor was targeted, but the East Bay Express said protesters have followed him since a decades-old sexual abuse claim reemerged last year. Johnson, who played with the Phoenix Suns at the time, was never charged in the case. (More Kevin Johnson stories.)

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