DC prosecutors lose bid to indict sandwich thrower

A man, who was later arrested. for assaulting law enforcement with a sandwich, interacts with Border Patrol and FBI agents along the U Street corridor on August 10, 2025, in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an increased presence of federal law enforcement to Washington, DC in an effort to curb crime.

Border Patrol and FBI agents in the streets of DC following Trump's federal deployment

(Image credit: Andrew Leyden / Getty Images)

What happened

Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., failed to secure a felony indictment against a man who threw a sub-style sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent in the early days of President Donald Trump's federal deployment in the capital, news organizations reported Wednesday. Prosecutors sought to charge Sean Dunn with assaulting a federal officer.

Who said what

It is "highly unusual for grand jurors to refuse to return an indictment," The Associated Press said. In fact, a legal adage holds that "prosecutors could persuade a grand jury to 'indict a ham sandwich.'" Tuesday's "remarkable failure" to indict Dunn "amounted to a sharp rebuke by a panel of ordinary citizens" against Trump's federal takeover of their city, The New York Times said. Federal prosecutors are experiencing an "increasing number of embarrassments" as they seek maximal charges on U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's orders.

Prosecutors certainly "overcharged here," Georgia State University law professor Anthony Michael Kreis told USA Today. The "idea that a sandwich could pose a serious threat of bodily harm to warrant a felony charge beggars belief."

What next?

Pirro's office could try again to obtain an indictment against Dunn, who was fired from his job at the Justice Department after footage of his sandwich toss went viral. Or they could "forgo seeking felony charges and refile his case as a misdemeanor," as they did Monday after failing "not just once but three times to obtain an indictment" against a woman also accused of assaulting a federal officer, the Times said.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.