*Throw a pie, expect a beat down. That’s pretty much Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson‘s philosophy, apparently. Johnson, the ex-NBA all-star player for the Phoenix Suns got smacked in the face with a pie at a charity dinner, but instead of just standing around looking all dazed and impish like you see a lot of folks do when it happens to them, Johnson went into attack mode.
OK, first, let’s break down what happened. Johnson had given a speech at the Seeds of HOPE dinner at Sacramento Charter High School on Wednesday night (09-21-16) before the man, Sean Thompson, pulled the pie from a bag, grabbed the mayor and shoved it in his face, said the mayor’s chief of staff, Crystal Strait.
We don’t know the specifics, but Johnson is said to have “defended” himself. Here’s a hint as to what that means: A booking photo released by police shows Thompson, 32, with a bruised and cut eye.
Johnson tweeted that he’s “doing fine,” adding, “Thank you to Sac PD for being there.”
Appreciate everyone. I’m doing fine. Thank you to Sac PD for being there. Be safe everyone.
— Kevin Johnson (@KJ_MayorJohnson) September 22, 2016
As far as Straight was concerned, the situation was serious and scary and there was nothing funny about it, especially because no one, including the mayor, could tell immediately that it was a pie the man was holding.
“The mayor was assaulted. I was standing right there, and I’m still pretty shaken up,” Strait said, speaking some three hours after it happened.
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Both police and Strait said Thompson was not previously known to the mayor and his staff. However, that’s contradicted in a report by Nicki Miller of the EastBay Express. He wrote that Thompson has a history of engaging with Johnson at Sacramento City Council meetings.
In any event, after cleaning up, Johnson spoke again to calm nerves at the event, which was held in the school’s garden and featured many of the city’s top restaurateurs.
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.
The 50-year-old is married to Michelle Rhee, a former chancellor of Washington, D.C., schools, who was at the event Wednesday night.
Johnson’s signature achievement in office was getting a $500 million arena built for the city’s NBA team, the Sacramento Kings.
His final two years in office were marked by the re-emergence of a decades-old claim of sexual abuse from a woman who was a teenager when Johnson played for the Suns. The Phoenix Police Department investigated but did not file charges.
Johnson has denied the allegations and that they had anything to do with his decision to leave office.
