Fired employee could face prison for throwing sandwich at officers

A Justice Department employee and Air Force veteran has been fired after he was arrested for allegedly throwing a Subway sandwich at a federal law enforcement officer on Sunday evening in Washington DC.

Sean Charles Dunn’s lawyer claimed 20 officers were sent to his home on Wednesday to arrest him.

In court documents police allege that Mr Dunn approached law enforcement officers, including Metro Transit Police and Customs and Border Protection officers, and began yelling obscenities and calling them “fascists.”

At about 11:05pm, local tim, according to the federal court filing, Dunn, 37, approached an officer and threw a sandwich at him. He was charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and employees of the United States.”

After his arrest, Dunn allegedly told one of the officers: “I did it. I threw a sandwich.”

“If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you,” Ms Bondi posted on X Thursday. “This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ.”

Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia, announced in a video posted on X on Wednesday afternoon that Dunn would be charged with a felony.

Mr Dunn was an international affairs specialist in the criminal division of the Justice Department. The DC resident made an initial appearance before a magistrate judge in Federal court Thursday afternoon, local time.

Prosecutors said he was being charged with forcibly assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer, which is punishable by up to eight years in prison. Mr Dunn has no criminal history and would not be eligible for the maximum penalty at sentencing if convicted.

Mr Dunn gave only a few brief answers to the magistrate judge’s questions, but smiled as he conferred with his defence attorney, Sabrina Shroff, after the court agreed to release him.

Ms Shroff said that following his arrest on Sunday, Mr Dunn was taken to DC Superior Court and then released without being charged. On Wednesday, a Federal warrant was issued, charging him with a felony.

In court, Ms Shroff said that she and Dunn worked to facilitate his voluntary surrender Wednesday but it was unclear which prosecutor at the US attorney’s office was responsible for the case.

Ms Shroff said the Government sent “20 police officers to his home” to arrest Dunn Wednesday night and did not allow him to call her.

“He did absolutely the most responsible thing by trying to surrender,” said Ms Shroff, who noted that Mr Dunn is an Air Force veteran. The court scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for Sept. 4.

DC Federal prosecutors in another recent case noted that people have been similarly charged for physically assaulting, spitting on, throwing urine at or attempting to grab batons from federal officers.

Earlier on Thursday, a DC woman who was arrested for spitting on Ed Martin, the former acting US attorney for the District of Columbia, pleaded guilty to assaulting federal officers and could be imprisoned. Emily Gabriella Sommer, 33, spat on, kicked and threatened federal officers when they arrested her.

Video of Mr Dunn’s incident, which took place near the corner of 14th and U streets NW, a popular nightlife area, shows a man in a pink collared shirt, shorts, crew socks and New Balance running shoes yelling at several law enforcement officers while holding a sandwich. As he turned to walk away, he hurled his sub at the chest of one of the officers and then ran off with the officers in pursuit.

“Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city,” he yelled before throwing the sub at the officer who appears to be wearing a bullet-proof vest.

The video was posted on Instagram under the account @bigap4l and quickly went viral.

Cortez Dargin, the man who recorded the video, said he and his friends were leaving a neighboring nightclub when they heard Dunn shouting. “I was like, ‘Let me record this guy, because he’s going crazy right now,’” Dargin said.

In the video Mr Dunn is seen pointing and shouting obscenities at officers and calling them fascists. He chanted “shame” before turning and walking away from the officers. Shortly after, he returned to the intersection and walked back to where the officers were standing. Mr Dunn then heaved the sandwich at the officer and took off running.

After the incident, Mr Dargin crossed the street to examine the sandwich, which, he said, appeared to have salami.