A D.C. man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent in what he called an act of protest this summer was found not guilty of a federal assault charge.
Jurors found Sean Dunn not guilty of one misdemeanor assault charge on Thursday in federal court in D.C.
Outside the courthouse, Dunn thanked his legal team and said he was pleased with the jury’s finding.
“I am so happy that justice prevails, in spite of everything happening. And that night, I believe I was protecting the rights of immigrants. And let us not forget that the great seal of the United States says ‘E pluribus unum.’ That means ‘from many, one.’ Every life matters, no matter where you came from, no matter how you got here,” he said.
Dunn hugged his lawyers after the foreperson read the verdict. The jury — which had sandwiches for lunch on Thursday, according to a person familiar with jury lunches — deliberated the charges for several hours on Wednesday and Thursday.
Dunn’s act caught on video turned him into a symbol of resistance to President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in the District.
U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro told News4 in a statement: “As always, we accept a jury’s verdict; that is the system within which we function. However, law enforcement should never be subjected to assault, no matter how ‘minor’. Even children know when they are angry, they are not allowed to throw objects at one another.”
Prosecutors told jurors that Dunn broke the law when he threw his submarine sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent on the night of Aug. 10.
One of Dunn’s lawyers urged the jury to acquit Dunn, a former Justice Department employee after a two-day trial. Defense attorney Sabrina Shroff questioned why the case was brought in the first place.
“A footlong from Subway could not and certainly did not inflict any bodily harm,” Shroff said during the trial’s closing arguments. “Throwing a sandwich is not a forcible offense.”
Prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office said Dunn knew he didn’t have a right to throw the sandwich at the agent.
“This is not a case about someone with strong opinions,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiLorenzo said. “It’s about an individual who crossed the line.”
What Dunn’s supporters said outside the courthouse
A couple wearing pins that depicted Dunn in action and said “Free D.C.” told News4 they attended Dunn’s trial to express their support.
“This is the sandwich guy. He’s a hero. He’s the spirit of the revolution now against the Trump administration. He expressed what a lot of us feel, which is frustration,” Donna Powell said.
Her husband compared Dunn’s case to the Jan. 6 cases for which Trump issued a blanket pardon.
“They got off scot-free, basically. Compare that to a guy getting hit with a subway sandwich. It’s night and day,” Don Powell said.
‘I did it. I threw a sandwich’
Dunn didn’t testify at his trial. But the jury heard him explain why he confronted a group of CBP agents on the same weekend that Trump announced his deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops and federal agents to assist with police patrols in Washington, D.C.
After his arrest, a law-enforcement officer’s body camera captured him saying: “I did it. I threw a sandwich. I did it to draw them away from where they were. I succeeded.”
A grand jury refused to indict Dunn on a felony assault count, part of a pattern of pushback against the Justice Department’s prosecution of surge-related criminal cases. After the rare rebuke from the grand jury, Pirro’s office charged Dunn instead with a misdemeanor.
When Dunn approached a group of CBP agents who were in front of a club hosting a “Latin Night,” he called them “fascists” and “racists” and chanted “shame” toward them. An observer’s video captured Dunn throwing a sandwich at an agent’s chest.
“Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” Dunn shouted, according to police.
Dunn ran away but was apprehended. DiLorenzo said the agents confronted by Dunn showed “the utmost restraint.”
“He spent seven minutes trying to get them off that corner,” the prosecutor said.
‘You could smell the onions and the mustard’
CBP Agent Gregory Lairmore testified that the sandwich “exploded” when it struck his chest hard enough that he could feel it through his ballistic vest.
“You could smell the onions and the mustard,” he recalled.
Lairmore’s colleagues jokingly gave him gifts making light of the incident, including a sandwich-shaped plush toy and a patch that said “felony footlong.” Lairmore acknowledged that he kept the gifts, placing the patch on his lunchbox.
“If someone assaulted you, someone offended you, would you keep mementos of that assault?” Shroff asked jurors. “Of course not.”
Federal agents in riot gear raided Dunn’s home
Dunn was released from custody but rearrested when a team of armed federal agents in riot gear raided his home. The White House posted a highly produced “propaganda” video of the raid on its official X account, Dunn’s lawyers said.
Dunn worked as an international affairs specialist in the Justice Department’s criminal division. After Dunn’s arrest, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced his firing in a social media post that referred to him as “an example of the Deep State.”
His lawyers urged the judge to dismiss the case for what they alleged is a vindictive and selective prosecution. They argued that the posts by Bondi and the White House show Dunn was impermissibly targeted for his political speech.
Dunn was charged with assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating and interfering with a federal officer. Dozens of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol were convicted of felonies for assaulting or interfering with police during the Jan. 6 attack. Trump pardoned or ordered the dismissal of charges for all of them.
NBC News’ Ryan J. Reilly contributed reporting.
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