Former NBA star and Mayor of Sacramento Kevin Johnson tackled a protester who threw a pie in his face and then beat him until witnesses say he was bloody.
Johnson, a friend of President Obama and two-term mayor of Sacramento, was attending a dinner when 32-year-old Sean Thompson approached him and pushed a cream pie in his face. 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.
After this, the protester reportedly said something to Johnson. This prompted the mayor to allegedly tackle the protester and punch him in the face “repeatedly,” more than half a dozen times, landing “five to 10” blows.
One witness described it as a “bloody pulp.” Other witnesses say that the pie-thrower was hit multiple times in the face and will definitely need stitches, and that there was visible blood.
Ambulances and fire department arrived at the scene.
Jail records indicate that 32-year-old Sean Thompson was arrested for felony assault of a public official and misdemeanor on school property. He’s being held on $100,000 bail.
A spokesman with the Sacramento Police Department confirmed that there was “some sort of physical altercation” between the suspect and the mayor, which occurred after Johnson was “assaulted” with the pie at around 6:45 p.m. He did not know whether the pie hit the the mayor’s face or head.
“The mayor did strike the suspect after he was assaulted,” spokesman Sgt. Bryce Heinlein told the Express. He could not confirm whether Johnson tackled Thompson.
Police said that the there was a cut above the suspect’s eye, but that he did not know the size. However, Thompson was transported to a local hospital after the incident, police confirmed.
The spokesperson did not know whether the mayor was injured or not.
Johnson was questioned after the incident. There is no police report yet.
“Pieing” is a tactic usually used by liberals against conservatives. Ann Coulter, Anita Bryant, and Pat Buchanan have been victims, while several more conservatives have been “glitter bombed.”
The press usually treats these attacks as “pranks,” the Daily Beast notes. But Thompson has been arrested and charged with assaulting a public official and is being held on $100,000 bond.
Here’s how Johnson’s chief of staff described the “attack”:
She said Johnson defended himself, but she would not give details. A booking photo released by police shows Sean Thompson, 32, with a bruised and cut eye.
Police arrested Thompson on suspicion of assaulting a public official, which is a felony, the Sacramento Police Department said in a statement. It wasn’t clear if he had retained an attorney.
Johnson tweeted that he’s “doing fine,” adding, “Thank you to Sac PD for being there.”
Strait emphasized that it was a serious and scary situation 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.
I don’t recall anyone who attacked a conservative with a pie being arrested, nor was anyone arrested for attacking a public official who was the victim of a glitter bomb, including Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, and Tim Pawlenty. In fact, I remember a lot of laughing on the left about these incidents.
And just who is it who did the “assaulting”? Is it considered self defense when a former professional athlete straddles a prankster and beats him to a “bloody pulp”?
I hope Thompson sues Johnson for his overreaction. He obviously won’t get satisfaction from Sacramento law enforcement.
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