Bay Area mayor punched in chest after speech

ANTIOCH, Calif. (AP) — The mayor of a San Francisco Bay Area city said he was assaulted Tuesday after giving a speech at a chamber of commerce about supporting local businesses.

Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in a statement he was preparing to leave a luncheon at the Lone Tree Golf Course & Event Center when a man aggressively approached him and punched him in the chest.

The man tried to punch him a second time but bystanders intervened and the man didn’t land his blow, Thorpe said. The man, who has not been identified, then fled the scene.

“Although shaken up, I am doing well,” Thorpe said in a statement, adding that he hopes the man is arrested and prosecuted.

Thorpe said he planned to attend Tuesday’s Antioch City Council meeting.

“Violence has absolutely no place in the public discourse and will never be tolerated,” he said.

Antioch is an industrial city of 115,000 people 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of San Francisco.