Man found guilty of slapping, pulling box cutter on CapMetro passenger

George Johnson found guilty

The man accused of slapping and pulling a box cutter on a gay man on a CapMetro bus has been found guilty.

AUSTIN, Texas - The man accused of slapping and pulling a box cutter on a gay man on a CapMetro bus has been found guilty.

What we know:

George Johnson, 35, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. That charge includes a hate crime finding. His trial started Tuesday. 

The victim says on June 14, 2022, he got a CapMetro bus, tried to pay, but it didn't work. The bus driver let him sit down anyway. Johnson was accused of yelling about him not paying and using homophobic slurs. At the end of the bus ride, Johnson went up to the victim with a box cutter and slapped him. The suspect got off at the bus stop on Norwood Park Boulevard. 

APD was able to identify Johnson after receiving tips. 

Johnson was sentenced to five years in prison, with jail credit for time he spent in a mental facility. In November 2023, he was found mentally incompetent. In April, his competency was restored.

George Johnson's trial to begin

The trial has started for a man accused of slapping and pulling a box cutter on a man on a CapMetro bus three years ago.

What they're saying:

Johnson took the stand Wednesday and was asked about the evidence he saw Tuesday. He said it wasn't him in the surveillance video. 

"Was that you on the bus?" Charles Arnone, defense attorney, asked Johnson.

"No sir," Johnson said. 

"Do you know who that was on the bus?" Arnone asked.

"My first cousin," Johnson said. 

"How do you know that was him?" Arnone asked. 

"We look so alike," Johnson said.

On Tuesday, the jury also saw grievances Johnson wrote in jail about not wanting to be in a cell with gay people. 

"Let me ask you straight up, do you have a problem with gay people?" Arnone asked.

"No sir. My best friend as a child, she's a gay person," Johnson said on the stand.

The defense said he just didn't want to be touched inappropriately. 

"When they be touching you, it's emotional, you know, I was molested when I was a child," Johnson said on the stand.

Johnson claimed he was in Waco the day of the assault and suggested the video may have been altered. 

"What I see on video don't mean I knew what was going on," he said.

"Do you understand [the victim] was assaulted by someone on June 14th, would you agree with me?" prosecutor Andrea Austin asked him. 

"What the video shows, there's so much AI today," Johnson said.

In closing arguments, prosecutors said the victim was targeted because of his sexual orientation.

"He was assaulted, threatened to have his neck slit with a box cutter and assaulted simply for existing as a gay man," prosecutor Dominic Selvera said.

The defense said the state hasn't met their burden of proof showing that Johnson is responsible. 

"[The victim] never identified Mr. Johnson as the person who attacked him," Arnone said. "The state is trying to put together a series of breadcrumbs that they want you to follow that lead in their opinion to Mr. Johnson."

Prosecutors said it is Johnson in the video because he had the same shorts and backpack as his other interactions with police the same month. He also used the same terminology referencing gay people in all the evidence.

"These are quite a bit of coincidences," Austin said. "He doesn't like gay people, let's call it what is."