A grand jury has refused to indict a man accused of throwing a sandwich at a US Customs and Border Protection officer in Washington DC, in a rebuff to federal prosecutors. Sean Charles Dunn, 37, a former justice department paralegal, was arrested on 13 August after allegedly hurling a sub-style sandwich at the agent during a protest against President Trump's deployment of armed troops in the capital.
The incident, captured on video and widely shared on social media, shows Dunn confronting an officer, calling him and his colleagues 'fascists', and shouting 'I don't want you in my city' before throwing the sandwich at close range. The Trump administration later publicised footage of heavily armed officers raiding Dunn's apartment, heightening the case's profile.
It is unusual for federal prosecutors to fail to secure an indictment, as they control the evidence presented to grand juries and defendants' lawyers are barred from the proceedings. The rejection mirrors a similar case involving Sidney Lori Reid, who was charged with assaulting an FBI officer during an immigration protest; prosecutors reduced her charges to a misdemeanour after three failed attempts at indictment.
Dunn is due in court on 4 September for a hearing to determine if a crime was committed. Prosecutors could refile the charge as a misdemeanour, which does not require a grand jury indictment, but that would represent a symbolic setback for the Trump administration, which has pushed for serious federal charges in such cases.
Critics have condemned the troop deployment as an attempt to intimidate rather than reduce crime, and a flurry of federal charges for minor infractions has drawn scrutiny. In a related case, a judge dismissed all charges against a man arrested at a Trader Joe's for allegedly carrying handguns, ruling that prosecutors had violated his constitutional rights.
