Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson is smacked in the face with a pie by man after his charity dinner speech

Sean Thompson was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a public official
He smacked Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson in the face with a pie
Johnson was giving a speech at a charity dinner when incident occurred
Chief of staff said Thompson grabbed Johnson and shoved pie in his face

By Valerie Edwards For Dailymail.com and Associated Press

Published: 13:12 GMT, 22 September 2016 | Updated: 18:20 GMT, 22 September 2016

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A man has been arrested for throwing a pie in the face of Sacramento's mayor following his speech at a charity dinner.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson had given a speech at the Seeds of HOPE dinner at Sacramento Charter High School Wednesday night before Sean Thompson, 32, came up and grabbed the former NBA star.

Thompson then shoved the pie in Johnson's face, the mayor's Chief of Staff Crystal Strait said.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson (file photo) had given a speech at the Seeds of HOPE dinner at Sacramento Charter High School Wednesday night before Sean Thompson, 32, came up, grabbed him and shoved the pie in his face

Strait said the mayor defended himself against the man, but she would not give details.

The mayor tweeted that he's 'doing fine' and added: 'Thank you to Sac PD for being there.'

Strait emphasized that it was a genuinely 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.

Police arrested Sean Thompson (pictured) on suspicion of assaulting a public official

Police arrested Thompson on suspicion of assaulting a public official, which is a felony, the Sacramento Police Department said in a statement.

Thompson was treated for a minor injury before he was taken to be booked into jail.

Both police and Strait said Thompson was previously unknown to the mayor and his staff.

After he cleaned up, the 50-year-old spoke again to the audience 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 before becoming mayor, has about two months left in office after deciding not to seek a third term.

He is married to Michelle Rhee, a former chancellor of Washington, DC, schools, who was at the event Wednesday night.

Johnson, who had a long career as an NBA All-Star with the Phoenix Suns and a brief stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, tweeted after the incident that he's 'doing fine' and he also thanked the police department for being there

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 at the time, when Johnson played for the Suns.

The Phoenix Police Department investigated but did not file charges.

Johnson has both denied the allegations and denied that they had anything to do with his decision to leave office.