DOJ fires sandwich thrower after Washington, DC arrest

The man facing a felony federal assault charge for allegedly chucking a Subway sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in Washington, D.C., was an employee at the Department of Justice, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Thursday.

The man, identified in court documents as Sean Charles Dunn, has been fired, she said.

Dunn worked in the international affairs section of the criminal division of the DOJ. The department this week deployed hundreds of federal agents to D.C. after Trump federalized the city’s police force to address what he says is rampant crime in the capital.

“I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice — NO LONGER,” Bondi said in an X post.

“This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ,” she added.

“You will NOT work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement.”

A video of the incident, which occurred Sunday night in Washington’s Northwest section near the intersection of 14th and U streets, shows an agitated man in a pink polo shirt and light shorts speaking to a small group of agents on a sidewalk, while holding a wrapped Subway sandwich in one hand.

He then winds up and hurls the sandwich into the chest of the officer nearest to him before sprinting away while at least three officers give chase, the 32-second clip posted by FBI Director Kash Patel shows.

Dunn was arrested Wednesday night, Patel said.

A statement from a D.C. police detective says that Dunn started shouting and pointing a finger in the face of CBP Agent Gregory Lairmore while standing “within inches” of the officer.

“F— you! You f—— fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” Dunn allegedly said over the course of several minutes.

Dunn crossed the street while “continuing to yell obscenities” at Lairmore, then approached the officer and “forcefully” threw the sandwich, the detective wrote.

Dunn was apprehended after attempting to flee the scene, the court document says.

While being processed by the Metropolitan Police Department, Dunn said, “I did it. I threw a sandwich,” according to the detective.

The Trump administration has justified the federal takeover of D.C.’s police department — and the president’s deployment of 800 National Guard members to the city — by arguing that the moves are necessary to crush violent crime in the capital.

Critics note that official statistics show numerous categories of crime in D.C., including ones involving violence, were already on the decline. Trump claims that those statistics are false.

Some critics have also accused the administration of hypocrisy for cracking down on D.C. months after Trump issued blanket pardons for nearly all of the people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

One of those defendants, ex-FBI agent Jared Wise, had been charged in 2023 in connection with his actions at the Capitol, including encouraging that violent mob to kill police officers.

The DOJ under Trump has reportedly hired Wise for a task force on “weaponization” of the criminal justice system.