Man accused of throwing sandwich at US border agent charged with assault

A man accused of throwing a sandwich at a US Customs and Border Protection agent in Washington DC has been charged with assaulting a federal officer – a felony that could result in up to a year in jail and significant fines.

Captured in a now viral video, the man authorities have identified as Sean Charles Dunn, 37, could be seen yelling “Fascists!” and “Shame!” at a group of officers as they patrolled the district on Sunday night.

Daina Henry, a local transit police detective detailed the altercation in a criminal complaint, alleging that Dunn pointed his finger in the officer’s face and yelled, “Fuck you! You fucking fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city,” minutes before “winding his arm back and forcefully throwing a sub-style sandwich”.

The incident erupted as tensions simmered over Donald Trump’s looming takeover of DC and his administration’s use of force to brutally achieve his anti-migrant agenda.

On Tuesday, the president deployed the first round of federal agents, including officers from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Department of Homeland Security, along with dozens of national guard troops, in an operation he said is only just beginning.

Invoking a never-before-used clause that allows a temporary federal takeover of the district’s police department, Trump called on Congress to grant him the power for a long-term occupation, but told reporters there were other ways to extend his control. “If it’s a national emergency, we can do it without Congress,” he said, speaking on Wednesday during a visit to the Kennedy Center.

Trump has threatened to send federal officers and military personnel into other US cities as well.

Dunn’s case, filed in the US district court in Washington, was taken up by the US attorney’s office headed by former Fox News host and Trump appointee Jeanine Pirro, who threatened to prosecute him fully. She has been outspoken in her support for the president’s plan to crackdown on crime.

“President Trump has vowed to make DC safe and beautiful again,” she said in a video posted to social media, championing the federal deployment. “The president’s message to the criminals was: if you spit, we hit,” she said.

“This guy thought it was funny,” she continued, referencing the defendant’s alleged actions. “Well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today, because we charged him with a felony, assault on a police officer.”

She added that she and her team were going to “back the police to the hilt”.

Dunn has not publicly commented about the charges or the incident and court records do not yet list an attorney for him or any scheduled court hearings.

In the video, the officer does not appear to be injured from the sandwich, which the video-taker zoomed in on to show it was still fully wrapped in a Subway wrapper, where it landed in the street.

The agent and others with him could be seen chasing the man after he threw the sandwich. Henry, in the criminal complaint, alleges Dunn was apprehended soon after and later said: “I did it. I threw a sandwich.”

Chris Stein contributed reporting