By Jack Phillips
Contributing Writer
Prosecutors in Washington were unable to secure a felony indictment against a man who was seen on camera throwing a sandwich at a federal law official, sources told The Associated Press and other media outlets on Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Sean Charles Dunn was arrested on assault charges after he threw a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent in the district, with a video of the incident going viral on social media. He was later fired from the Department of Justice, officials said.
After he threw the sandwich, Dunn tried to run away but was apprehended, police said. He was initially released and then was rearrested by federal agents. A video of agents going to arrest and handcuff him was posted online by an official White House X account.
In a statement on Aug. 14, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote that the man was arrested by the bureau over the incident.
After the arrest, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a post on X that she learned that the man was working for the Justice Department and was fired.
“If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you. … Not only is he FIRED, he has been charged with a felony,” Bondi said. “This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ. You will NOT work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement.”
Around the same time, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro uploaded a video discussing the incident and issued a statement.
“Assault a law enforcement officer, and you’ll be prosecuted. This guy thought it was funny — well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today, because we charged him with a felony,” she said.
The Trump administration moved to federalize law enforcement efforts in Washington earlier this month in a bid to crack down on violent crime, a move that D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Wednesday conceded was effective.
“We greatly appreciate the surge of officers that enhance what MPD has been able to do in this city,” Bowser, a Democrat, told reporters in a news conference, using an acronym for the Metropolitan Police Department.
However, some Democrats in the capital city have voiced concerns about the federal surge of law enforcement. Ward 1 Council member Brianne Nadeau claimed that the city is “under siege.”
“Our residents are afraid, hesitant to go out and to work, angry that our limited autonomy is being eroded. There is nothing welcome about this,” Nadeau wrote in a post on X.
The White House has said that an emergency was declared in Washington because crime in the city “poses intolerable risks to the vital federal functions that take place in the District of Columbia” and also hampers “the recruitment and retention of essential federal employees, undermine critical functions of government and thus the well-being of the entire nation, and erode confidence in the strength of the United States.”
The DOJ had yet to respond to a request for comment as of the publication of this story.
