A man who hurled a sandwich at a federal agent in a fit of fury over President Donald Trump’s law enforcement surge in Washington DC, has been cleared of a misdemeanour assault charge.
Sean Dunn, a former US Justice Department staffer, was found not guilty of assaulting or impeding a federal officer after a three-day trial in Washington federal court that highlighted tensions in the capital over Mr Trump’s deployment of law enforcement agents and the National Guard to curb crime.
Mr Dunn was captured on a widely shared video berating officers as “fascists” before throwing a sub-style sandwich at a US Customs and Border Protection agent on duty in a nightlife neighbourhood on August 10th. The agent involved, a 23-year veteran named Gregory Lairmore, testified during the trial that the incident generated a whiff of mustard and left onions hanging from the antenna of his police radio.
The verdict was the latest defeat for Mr Trump’s Justice Department related to its crackdown in Washington. Prosecutors had initially sought felony charges against Mr Dunn, but downgraded the case to a misdemeanour after a grand jury declined to return an indictment. In several other cases, grand juries had refused to indict – a highly unusual rebuke to prosecutors.
A lawyer for Mr Dunn, Sabrina Shroff, argued that the throwing of the sandwich was a harmless gesture of frustration and was not capable of injuring agents clad in ballistic vests. Ms Shroff highlighted joke gifts the affected agent had received from colleagues after the incident, including a patch that read “Felony Footlong”.
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“We all know this was not a weapon thrown with force,” Ms Shroff said during closing arguments.
Prosecutors argued that Mr Dunn had committed a crime by interfering with law enforcement, pointing to body-worn camera footage in which he can be heard saying he wanted to draw officers away from their posts.
Prosecutor Michael DiLorenzo told the jury that Mr Dunn’s free speech rights did not allow him to “strike another person – even with a sandwich”.
“That’s where the defendant crossed the line,” Mr DiLorenzo said.
Mr Lairmore, one of only two witnesses called, testified that officers had perceived a potential threat from an agitated Mr Dunn. Mr Dunn, who worked on international cases with the Justice Department, was condemned by senior Trump officials in the days after the incident.
The White House posted a video on social media of heavily armed agents taking him into custody. Mr Trump had deployed teams of federal agents to patrol Washington beginning in August, decrying what he portrayed as a crime crisis in the city.
The surge led to an initial decline in some types of crime, but also spurred a backlash among some residents. – Reuters
