Sometimes a good deed can be very much punished. At a recent charity event in Sacramento, a man was arrested after shoving a pie in the face of Mayor Kevin Johnson. Sean Thompson was charged with assaulting a public official, a felony.
In a series of events right out of a slapstick movie, the AP reports: Mayor Johnson was just finishing up a speech at the Seeds of HOPE dinner at Sacramento Charter High School when Thompson approached, pulled a pie out of a bag, grabbed Johnson and shoved the pie in his face…
Johnson was furious. He tried to defend himself by tackling Thompson and “repeatedly punching him in the face…” according to the East Bay Express. By all accounts, Johnson definitely got the better end of the deal.
Despite the clownish events, officials and spokesmen for the mayor’s office and the Sacramento police said the event was no laughing matter. Folks said they didn’t know what Thompson pulled out of the bag initially and were shaken by events.
Even stranger, no one knew Thompson, and his motives are entirely unclear. Johnson is in the final months of two terms in office, said he has no plans to seek re-election and was preparing to retire to private life after a career in the NBA and as mayor.
In his time as mayor, Johnson was instrumental in getting a brand new $500 million arena built for the home team’s NBA franchise, the Kings. This has caused some to joke Thompson may have been a disgruntled Warriors or Clippers fan.
The only real stain on Johnson’s public record has been a decades-old sexual abuse allegation that was investigated and dismissed by the Phoenix Police Department back when Johnson played for the Suns.
At the moment, nobody can be sure why the pie was smashed and whether Thompson thought he was just pulling a prank or if he had a legitimate grievance. The remains under investigation, but it ranks up there with one of the strangest ways a local charity has ever received press coverage.