Washington — A person who was charged with throwing a sandwich at a federal agent was discovered not responsible of 1 rely of misdemeanor assault after a jury trial in Washington, D.C.
The acquittal of the person, Sean Dunn, comes after federal prosecutors did not safe a felony indictment towards him from a grand jury in Washington within the speedy aftermath of the incident. He as an alternative confronted a federal misdemeanor assault cost for allegedly assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating and interfering with a federal officer.
Based on charging paperwork, Dunn threw a “submarine-style sandwich” at a Customs and Border Patrol officer stationed at a busy intersection in Northwest Washington in August. The incident was broadly publicized and rapidly grew to become an emblem of resistance towards President Trump’s federal policing crackdown and Nationwide Guard deployment within the nation’s capital, which is now in its third month.
In video of the incident that was cited within the costs and performed in court docket, Dunn could be seen yelling on the agent and different officers in his neighborhood earlier than throwing the wrapped sandwich on the officer’s chest. Dunn tried to flee on foot earlier than being apprehended, paperwork and video of the incident reveals.
Based on the affidavit, Dunn yelled, “F*** you! You f***ing fascists! Why are you right here? I do not need you in my metropolis,” earlier than crossing the road. He later returned and threw the sandwich.
Justice Division
“He did it, he threw the sandwich,” Dunn’s legal professional Julia Gatto mentioned in her opening assertion to a D.C. jury, including their shopper has “very robust emotions” concerning the Trump administration’s inflow of federal regulation enforcement into D.C.
Gatto referred to as the viral incident a “innocent gesture that didn’t, couldn’t, trigger harm.”
Customs and Border Patrol Agent Gregory Lairmore, who was hit with the footlong sub, testified Tuesday, saying that he caught most of Dunn’s anger and a focus earlier than being hit in his ballistic vest with the Subway sandwich.
To laughs from the crowded courtroom, Lairmore mentioned he “might really feel it by way of his ballistic vest” and it “exploded throughout” him. He mentioned he “might odor the onions and mustard” on his uniform, and even had an onion string hanging by his police radio later that evening. The fast-food mustard, he mentioned, stained his shirt.
Dunn didn’t testify in his personal protection, and his authorized crew didn’t current a counter to the Justice Division’s arguments within the case. As an alternative they moved to dismiss the case, however that was denied by U.S. District Choose Carl Nichols, who oversaw the trial.
Throughout closing arguments in entrance of a totally packed courtroom, prosecutors mentioned that “this case is just not about somebody with robust opinions … it is about a person who crossed the road.” They mentioned Dunn had the precise to specific his anger on the federal brokers, however he didn’t have the precise to strike them, “even with a sandwich.”
“Right here we now have the defendant, throwing a sandwich, however he is throwing it arduous,” the prosecutor mentioned. “That meets the definition of pressure.”
Dunn’s legal professional, Sabrina Schroff, then argued to the jury that “the sandwich that was thrown on this case was not forcible,” and equated her shopper’s actions to that of a kid’s bedtime mood tantrum.
Schroff mentioned that when a baby “takes that stuffed animal with which he sleeps … and throws it at you … Are you offended? Are you scared you would possibly endure bodily harm? No.”
She additionally mentioned Lairmore couldn’t have been assaulted as a result of the sandwich throw didn’t place the officer in “cheap worry of speedy bodily hurt.”
“Take into consideration the place the sandwich landed,” Schroff mentioned, arguing that Lairmore’s bulletproof vest that Dunn threw the sub at was “undoubtedly going to maintain you protected from a sandwich,” if it protects towards gunfire.
“A footlong from Subway couldn’t and positively didn’t inflict bodily hurt,” Schroff mentioned.
“This is not only a sandwich, this can be a seven minute tirade,” prosecutors argued of their rebuttal.
After his arrest, Dunn was fired from his job as a paralegal within the Justice Division. Based on a Justice Division supply, Dunn labored on the Workplace of Worldwide Affairs inside the division’s Prison Division as a paralegal.
