Kevin Johnson was pied in the face during a Sacramento fundraiser Wednesday night, before the mayor and former NBA star reportedly administered a beat down to the suspect
Johnson, 50, was attending a benefit dinner at Sacramento Charter High School with his wife, national school reform advocate Michelle Rhee, when the incident happened, the Sacramento Bee reported. Johnson was talking with guests when Sean Thompson, 32, reportedly walked up to him and unexpectedly shoved a pie in his face, the Bee noted.
The incident led to a physical confrontation between Johnson and Thompson before the mayor's detail was able to restrain the suspect, reported the newspaper. In a booking photo, it appeared that Thompson had two sets of stitches around his left eye.
"Let me be clear, the mayor was assaulted tonight," Crystal Strait, the mayor's spokeswoman, told the newspaper. "He is home with his family…The whole thing is just shocking."
The East Bay Express reported that a witness said Thompson said something to Johnson before the mayor responded, hitting him in the face repeatedly more than a half dozen times.
"One witness described it as a 'bloody pulp,'" Nick Miller, of the East Bay Express wrote. "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."
Strait told the Bee that Thompson had grabbed Johnson's arm and "yanked him off balance" before hitting him with the pie.
"He brought (the pie) with him. He pulled it out of a bag," Strait told the newspaper. "It was a blur. … The mayor just felt he was being punched in the face."
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department website stated that Thompson was arrested on a felony charge of assaulting a public official and misdemeanor charge of battery on school property, the Bee noted.
Johnson posted a tweet afterward saying that he was OK.
Johnson played 12 years in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Phoenix Suns before returning to his hometown of Sacramento where he is completing his second term as mayor, according to his biography on the city's website.
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