(MENAFN- The Arabian Post)

A Washington D. C. jury has cleared former Department of Justice paralegal Sean Charles Dunn of a federal misdemeanor assault charge after he hurled a submarine-style sandwich at a U. S. Customs and Border Protection agent on 10 August, a moment captured on video and processed through a high-profile federal court trial. The verdict follows a grand jury's refusal to indict Dunn on felony assault charges, triggering a downgrade to misdemeanor prosecution.

The incident unfolded on 14th Street NW in a nightclub-heavy corridor when Dunn approached uniformed federal officers deployed under the law enforcement surge ordered by former President Donald Trump. Video footage shows him shouting“Why are you here? I don't want you in my city!” and branding the agents“fascists,” before tossing the wrapped sandwich at Agent Gregory Lairmore and dashing from the scene. The sandwich struck the agent's chest plate, and Lairmore testified that it“exploded all over my uniform” with the smell of onions and mustard. Dunn was pursued, arrested and later terminated from his DOJ role.

During trial, prosecutors emphasised the proximity of the throw and asserted that Dunn was not shielded by free-speech protections, arguing that he“knew he didn't have a right to throw the sandwich at the agent.” The felony attempt was stalled when the grand jury declined to indict, and U. S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro later filed a misdemeanor charge. The defence contended the act was a“harmless gesture”, protected as protest, and pointed to Laughing colleagues in Lairmore's office to illustrate the lack of serious harm. Jurors deliberated for roughly seven hours before returning a unanimous not-guilty verdict.

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Observers suggest the ruling underscores growing reluctance of Washington grand juries and trial juries to pursue aggressive prosecutions of protest-related acts tied to the federal deployment of law-enforcement resources in the capital. Legal experts note that while the act was provocative, the threshold for assault under federal statute requires force or reasonable apprehension of harm, a standard the defence argued was not met in this case. The court instructed jurors that conviction required a finding of“reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm,” and defence counsel highlighted the agent's bullet-proof vest and heavy armament as evidence the sandwich posed no real threat.

Dunn, 37, an Air Force veteran who deployed to Afghanistan and had served as an international affairs specialist within DOJ's criminal division, told reporters after the verdict:“I'm relieved and I'm looking forward to moving on with my life.” Outside the courtroom, a modest crowd of supporters wearing pins depicting him mid-throw gathered, some framing the moment as symbolic of local resistance to federal overreach in D. C. law enforcement.

The case sheds light on the broader tension between federal policing initiatives in the capital and community pushback during the Trump era. Local residents and activists had viewed the federal surge as an infringement of city autonomy and civil-rights protections. Dunn's sandwich-throw became a meme-worthy moment of defiance, spawning street art, social-media campaigns and protest signs. Critics argued that prosecutions in such contexts risk chilling dissent, while supporters of law-enforcement maintain that any throwing of objects at federal agents deserves deterrence. Pirro, in a statement, accepted the jury's decision but reiterated that“law enforcement should never be subjected to assault, no matter how 'minor.'”

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