Sandwich Hurler Acquitted of Assault Charge in Viral DC Case (2)

A federal jury found a former Justice Department employee not guilty of misdemeanor assault over a viral incident in which he threw a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer.

The jury in the US District Court for the District of Columbia reached a verdict Thursday after roughly seven hours of deliberation across two days, declining to convict Sean Charles Dunn, 37, under a statute that bars assaulting, resisting, or interfering with federal law enforcement officers.

The decision is another loss for the DC US attorney’s office, which along with federal prosecutors in other major US cities, has had difficulty securing indictments against protesters accused of assaulting or resisting federal officers during the Trump administration’s federal law enforcement surge in major cities.

The ruling means Dunn will avoid the charge’s maximum penalty of up to one year in jail, as well as possible fines and probation.

Dunn hugged his lawyers, who started laughing after the jury was dismissed. “I’m relieved and I’m looking forward to moving on with my life,” Dunn later told reporters in the courtroom.

Dunn thanked his attorneys and Steptoe LLP, which represented him pro bono. He also expressed gratitude that “justice prevails,” adding he believed on the evening he threw the sandwich “that I was protecting the rights of immigrants.”

Dunn pleaded not guilty in September to the downgraded charge after a grand jury declined to indict him on a felony assault charge that the DC attorney’s office sought.

The high-profile case stemmed from an Aug. 10 incident amid President Donald Trump’s federal law enforcement surge in Washington. A video of the incident that quickly went viral showed Dunn yelling obscenities at CBP officers at the corner of 14th Street and U Street Northwest in Washington before throwing a sandwich at the chest of one of the officers.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced within days of the incident that Dunn had been fired from his role as an international affairs specialist with the Office of International Affairs within DOJ’s Criminal Division.

Dunn spoke only once during the trial to confirm to Trump-appointed Judge Carl Nichols on Wednesday that he was waiving his right to testify in the case.

The prosecutors in the case—assistant US attorneys John Parron and Michael DiLorenzo—declined to comment on the verdict as they left the courtroom.

DC US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in an emailed statement that her office accepts the jury’s verdict, but added that “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,” Pirro said.

Interference Debate

The DC US attorney’s office centered the prosecution on the sandwich throw itself, which Parron and DiLorenzo both said throughout the trial “crossed the line.”

By hurling the sandwich “like a baseball,” Dunn impeded and interfered with CBP Agent Gregory Lairmore’s official duty to provide a highly visible law enforcement presence as part of the Trump-established DC Safe and Beautiful Task Force, DiLorenzo said in his closing argument Wednesday.

Lairmore and other officers present that evening “were engaged in their official duties when the assault took place,” DiLorenzo told the jury.

Sabrina Shroff, Dunn’s lead attorney in the case, pushed back on that characterization, telling the jury that law enforcement had an even greater visible presence when additional officers joined the scene immediately after Dunn’s arrest.

“There was no interference whatsoever with their official duty,” Shroff said.

Shroff said Dunn’s intention was to lure federal agents away from the area because he believed there would be an immigration raid at a nearby LGBTQ+ nightclub. Lairmore testified Tuesday that his mission on the evening of Aug. 10 didn’t include immigration enforcement.

Dunn’s lawyers didn’t provide additional evidence beyond their opening and closing statements, in which they urged the jury to consider that the sandwich didn’t inflict any bodily harm or injury. Lairmore claimed in testimony Tuesday that the sandwich “exploded all over my uniform,” and left behind mustard stains and an onion hanging on his radio antenna.

Shroff questioned the seriousness of the incident, noting gifts Lairmore received from his colleagues in the days that followed: a plush sandwich that Lairmore said he now displays on a desk shelf and a “felony footlong” patch that he attached to his lunchbox.

“They’re joking about it,” Shroff said.

The defense made a last-ditch effort to toss the case ahead of jury deliberations, filing a motion Wednesday asking Nichols to rule that prosecutors failed to provide enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dunn violated the federal statute.

Nichols denied the request, saying there was enough evidence presented at the trial that “a reasonable juror could conclude” Dunn acted forcibly and that this could include assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, or other verbs explicitly prohibited under the statute.

The verdict comes after a jury acquitted a woman the DC US attorney’s office charged with a misdemeanor after three separate grand juries declined to return a felony charge against her. The office, led by Jeanine Pirro, had accused Sydney Lori Reid of assaulting an FBI agent in July during the transfer of a DC jail inmate to Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

Other US attorneys have faced setbacks attempting to bring felony charges against protesters in cities targeted by Trump with immigration raids and military deployments. In October, charges were dropped against two-Chicago area protesters after a grand jury declined to indict them, and federal grand juries have also resisted indictments sought by the US attorney in Los Angeles in protest-related cases.

The federal prosecutor’s office in New Jersey has filed federal criminal charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) for allegedly assaulting two homeland security officers and impeding their ability to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) outside an immigration detention center.

The case is USA v. Dunn, D.D.C., No. 1:25-cr-00252, 11/6/25.