FBI and Border Patrol agents speak with Sean Charles Dunn, the man suspected of attacking law enforcement with a sandwich along the U Street corridor, during federal law enforcement operations in Washington, D.C., on August 10, 2025.
Andrew Lyden Getty Images
A federal jury in Washington, D.C., on Thursday found former Justice Department paralegal Sean Dunn not guilty of assaulting a federal employee for throwing a Subway sandwich in August.
Dunn’s acquittal after just a few hours of deliberation was the latest rebuke to the Justice Department in the case.
Prosecutors under D.C. Attorney Jeanine Pirro had previously failed to get a D.C. grand jury to indict the 37-year-old on felony assault charges.
Pirro’s office later filed misdemeanor charges against him, which went to trial this week. Jurors began deliberating Wednesday.
Dunn is accused of throwing a sandwich at Customs and Border Protection Officer Greg Laremore on Aug. 10 along Washington’s U Street nightlife corridor.
President Donald Trump dispatched Raremore and other federal officials to Washington, D.C., in response to what the president claimed was rampant crime in the nation’s capital.
“Damn you! You fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” Dunn allegedly yelled at a group of federal agents and threw a sandwich at one of them.
After his arrest, Dunn was fired from the Justice Department, where he worked in the Criminal Division’s International Affairs Division.
A person walks past an artwork depicting former Justice Department official Sean Charles Dunn on the wall of a restaurant in Washington’s Adams Morgan neighborhood on August 17, 2025.
Tom Brenner Washington Post | Getty Images
According to NBC News, Dunn’s attorney, Sabrina Shroff, said in closing arguments Wednesday that the conflict was the result of Dunn’s “strong feelings” about immigration enforcement.
Schroff also told jurors that “you are the ones affected by this executive order” issued by President Trump that put federal law enforcement officers on the streets of Washington, D.C., NBC reported.
“You are all affected by the executive order…There was and is a large law enforcement presence in this district,” Shroff said.
The defense attorney also argued that “the sandwich did not interfere with Officer Laremore’s duties that night. He could not have caused bodily harm, and certainly could not have caused bodily harm, some 10 meters away from the subway.”
According to the paper, Mr. Schroff also noted that Mr. Reamore received two “gag gifts” from a colleague: a stuffed animal sandwich and a patch with a cartoon of Dan throwing a sandwich and the words “Felony Footlong.”
“If someone assaulted you or someone made you angry, would you keep a memory of that assault? Would you put it in your lunchbox and carry it with you every day?” she asked.
