Washington (AFP) – A man who threw a sandwich at a federal immigration agent deployed by President Donald Trump in the US capital was charged with a lesser offense on Thursday after prosecutors failed to secure a felony indictment. Sean Dunn, 37, a former Justice Department employee, was arrested on August 10 after hurling a footlong sub sandwich at a US Customs and Border Protection agent patrolling the city. The incident was captured on video and went viral, showing Dunn shouting at agents, throwing the sandwich and fleeing on foot.
Dunn has been embraced by supporters as a symbol of resistance to the federal takeover of the Washington police force and the deployment of National Guard troops in the city. Dunn, who has earned the nickname “Sandwich Guy” in the media, was promptly fired by Attorney General Pam Bondi from his job at the Justice Department. The US Attorney for Washington initially charged Dunn with felony assault, but a grand jury declined earlier this week to return an indictment on that charge.
Prosecutors refiled the charge against Dunn as a misdemeanor on Thursday, accusing him of “assaulting, resisting or impeding” a law enforcement officer in the performance of his duties. Trump ordered a federal takeover of the Washington police force and the deployment of thousands of National Guard troops earlier this month to counter what he alleged was out-of-control crime in the capital. Federal law enforcement personnel — including Immigration and Customs Enforcement — have also increased their presence on Washington’s streets, drawing protests from some residents of the overwhelmingly Democratic city.
Trump and fellow Republican politicians claim that the capital is overrun by crime, plagued by homelessness and financially mismanaged. Data from Washington police showed significant drops in violent crime between 2023 and 2024, though that was coming off a post-pandemic surge.
© 2024 AFP
