A federal jury found the man who threw a sandwich at Border Patrol agents in Washington, D.C. not guilty of misdemeanor assault, The Associated Press reported. The verdict closed out a trial that was once for a felony and marked by an agent’s testimony of events.
Sean C. Dunn, a former Justice Department employee, approached a group of federal agents in mid-August, called them fascists and questioned their purpose in his city. Shortly after, he threw a deli sandwich at officers, which was captured on video and quickly went viral as others protested President Donald Trump’s directive to send federal agents to the capitol city.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi said his actions amounted to felonious assault. A federal jury said otherwise, clearing Dunn of felonious assault in August, and misdemeanor assault on Thursday. Dunn’s lawyers have argued the incident was a measure of protest.
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Federal prosecutors have dropped charges in at least 11 cases after initially charging more than 50 people with federal crimes since President Trump’s D.C. takeover.
“I’m relieved and I’m looking forward to moving on with my life,” Dunn said, according to the AP.
After the incident, the Justice Department fired Dunn from his role as an international affairs specialist in the department’s criminal division.
Federal prosecutors argued that Dunn knew he didn’t have a right to throw the sandwich and “crossed the line,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiLorenzo said in court Wednesday, according to the AP.
Dunn’s case is one of many out of the D.C. federal court where people were either ruled not guilty or prosecutors dropped cases against. The surge of federal charges followed Trump’s troop deployment as residents and others protested the president’s takeover.
Agent could ‘smell’ onions
The relatively short jury trial of Dunn revealed more about agents’ actions in D.C. Federal prosecutors originally sought felony assault charges against Dunn, but a grand jury declined to indict the man under that class, so U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro refiled the charge, this time as a misdemeanor.
Customs and Border Patrol Agent Gregory Lairmore testified that Dunn’s sandwich “exploded” when it hit his chest and he could feel the impact through his ballistic vest, The AP reported.
“You could smell the onions and the mustard,” he said.
He and other agents attempted to deescalate the situation as Dunn shouted profanities and “shame” at them. He recalled Dunn being “red-faced” and calling them “all kinds of names.”
Dunn appeared on a law enforcement officer’s body camera saying that he threw the sandwich to draw agents away from a club that was hosting a Latin Night.
Dunn’s defense attorney, Sabrina Schroff, said in court that Dunn’s colleagues passing around gifts about the incident indicated that they knew the case was “overblown” and “worthy of a joke.”
“A footlong from Subway could not and certainly did not inflict any bodily harm,” Schroff said during closing arguments Wednesday.
