*Former Occupy protester Sean Thompson went to the Sacramento City Council meeting Tuesday night to address Mayor Kevin Johnson.
“This arena has been your circus,” he told the mayor. “You’ve been the lead clown, and that’s why I threw a pie at you.”
He’s now asking for felony and misdemeanor charges to be dropped related to his pie shoving in Johnson’s face last week. Thompson said wanted to get Johnson’s attention before the mayor leaves office in December, reports The Sacramento Bee.
Thompson did not enter a plea for a felony charge of assaulting a public official and a misdemeanor charge of battery on school property during his arraignment hearing Tuesday morning. He went to the Sacramento City Council meeting Tuesday night to address the mayor, where he had to keep his distance from Johnson. Supporters wore yellow T-shirts that said “coconut cream pie, the peoples [sic] pie.”
Thompson called the pie-tossing “an act of nonviolence” that was intended to “do something jarring in order to get Kevin Johnson’s attention.” He is calling for all charges against him to be dropped because he already received “street justice” when Johnson tackled and punched him, according to his lawyer.
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Johnson said he was simply defending himself when he punched Thompson. “When somebody comes up from behind you and slugs you – and in my case you didn’t know what it was at the time and thought it was a punch – you have a right to defend yourself,” he said.
Thompson’s attorney, Claire White, said she would be happy to pay the mayor’s dry-cleaning bill if it would help to reach a resolution.
“It sounds like this gentleman is trying to extend his 15 minutes of fame,” said Johnson’s chief of staff Crystal Strait. “We will let law enforcement handle the situation. In my opinion, this is clearly an assault. I think assaulting someone crosses a line (of free speech).”
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