Sean Charles Dunn, whose sub chucking made him a symbol of protest against President Donald Trump’s DC crime crackdown, is charged with simple assault.
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WASHINGTON – Prosecutors have charged a DC man captured on video throwing a sandwich at a federal agent with a misdemeanor offense after failing to convince a grand jury to return a more serious felony indictment against him, a person familiar with the case said Aug. 29.
Sean Charles Dunn, whose sub chucking made him a symbol of protest against President Donald Trump’s crime crackdown in the nation’s capital, is now charged with simple assault, the person familiar told USA TODAY.
Unlike the felony charge prosecutors initially filed, misdemeanor charges don’t require prosecutors to go to a grand jury and obtain its approval. The misdemeanor charge carries up to one year behind bars, the person said.
The case is one of several in which Justice Department prosecutors sought to charge protesters with felonies to support the Trump administration’s claims that it wanted to aggressively prosecute violence against law enforcement officers.
Trump’s top federal prosecutor for the District of Columbia, Jeanine Pirro, had touted the effort to charge Dunn with a felony, saying on a social media video, “So there, stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else.”
But the grand jury didn’t believe there was sufficient evidence to warrant a felony charge and instead issued a “no bill,” which is essentially a refusal to go along with prosecutors.
Pirro’s office had no comment on Dunn’s case. A lawyer for Dunn also had no comment.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia sought to charge Dunn with felony assault after he allegedly threw a wrapped hoagie-style sandwich at a Customs and Border Patrol agent during an Aug. 10 confrontation.
“Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” Dunn yelled at the officer, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by USA TODAY. He also swore and called officers “fascists,” the complaint said.
Dunn then threw a sub-style sandwich at the officer’s chest, the complaint said. Videos of the incident shared to social media show a man in a pink shirt and shorts yelling at officers, throwing the sandwich and then running away as federal agents chase him.
The felony charge of assaulting a federal law enforcement officer Dunn initially would have faced carried with it a maximum sentence of eight years behind bars.
After his arrest, the Justice Department fired Dunn from his job as an international affairs specialist in the department’s criminal division.
At least one other DC federal grand jury has refused − three times − to indict a woman accused of assaulting an FBI agent, according to The Washington Post. It also reported Aug. 27 that a DC magistrate said another arrest in the northeast of the city followed the “most illegal search I’ve seen in my life.”
