WASHINGTON — A D.C. man has pleaded guilty and will have to attend mental health treatment after two violent public attacks that happened in 2020.
According to the United States Attorney’s Office, 36-year-old Johnnie Williamson admitted to the two crimes, one of which was prosecuted as a hate crime.
The first attack happened on June 14, 2020, when Williamson pulled a knife on a person during an argument inside Union Station. The second attack happened months later at a Chipotle restaurant in Northeast, D.C. on December 27, 2020.
The United States Attorney’s Office said in a release Monday that Williamson walked into the restaurant just after 8:30 p.m. and asked an employee how much food he could buy for $8. Due to a language barrier, the employee had a hard time talking with Williamson so she asked a manager to help.
The manager told Williamson what was available for the amount of money he had but when Williamson was not happy with the answer, he began yelling a series of xenophobic, ethnic and transphobic slurs at the employee and the manager.
While yelling at the employees, Williamson climbed onto the counter and spit on the employee, according to the United States Attorney’s Office. He then reportedly grabbed over the county and began throwing food and serving spoons at the employee, hitting her in the hand. After throwing the food, he picked up a fire extinguisher and threw it at the manager, hitting her in the leg.
Williamson reportedly kept yelling slurs at the employees throughout the assault. Before leaving, he shouted that he would come back and kill the employees.
Williamson was arrested on March 5, 2021, and pleaded guilty to the attacks on Feb. 9, 2022. He was sentenced to 450 days of incarceration, however, the entire time was suspended with credit for the time he already served, on the condition that he completes one year of supervised probation and participates in mental health treatment and supervision.
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Employees at the restaurant allegedly confronted him for not paying his bill.