The protestor who threw a sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer in Washington, D.C. — becoming a symbol of resistance against President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in the U.S. capital — has been found not guilty of assault.
After deliberating for nearly seven hours, a jury in D.C. found Sean Charles Dunn, a former Justice Department employee now known as the “Sandwich Guy,” not guilty of misdemeanor assault on Thursday.
Video of 37-year-old Dunn throwing the Subway sandwich went viral, turning him into a symbol of resistance against Trump’s deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops and federal agents into D.C. to combat what the president has insisted is a rampant crime problem in the nation’s capital.
Lawyers for Dunn argued that the August 10 incident was a “harmless gesture” during an act of protest and was protected by the First Amendment. Meanwhile, prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office claimed that Dunn knew he did not have the right to throw the sandwich at the agent.
After the not guilty verdict was read, Dunn hugged his lawyers. He later told reporters, “I’m relieved and I’m looking forward to moving on with my life.”
Dunn worked as an international affairs specialist in the Justice Department’s criminal division up until his arrest. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced his firing on social media, referring to him as “an example of the Deep State.”
While Dunn was initially told he wouldn’t be prosecuted, after the video gained traction online, Pirro tried to charge him with a felony assault of an officer. After a grand jury refused to indict him, Pirro’s office went forward with the misdemeanor simple assault charge, WUSA9 reported.
During the August 10 incident, Dunn approached a group of CBP agents who were standing in front of a club hosting a “Latin Night” and called them “fascists” and “racists” and chanted “shame” at them. Video taken by a bystander captured him throwing the sandwich at an agent’s chest.
“Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” he shouted, according to police.
The agent Dunn threw his sandwich at, Gregory Lairmore, testified that the sandwich “exploded” when it struck his chest. He said it was thrown hard enough that he could feel it through his ballistic vest.
“You could smell the onions and the mustard,” he said.
However, Lairmore’s colleagues later gave him gag gifts making light of the incident, which he kept.
“If someone assaulted you, someone offended you, would you keep momentos of that assault?” Dunn’s lawyer asked jurors. “Of course not.”
With reporting by the Associated Press.
