A man facing a felony assault charge for throwing a sandwich at a federal agent during President Donald Trump’s crackdown on crime in Washington, DC worked at the US Justice Department, Attorney General Pam Bondi said yesterday.
Sean Dunn, 37, assisted lawyers on international cases in the department’s Criminal Division, a Justice Department official said.
“I just learned that this defendant worked at the Department of Justice – NO LONGER,” Bondi wrote on X. “Not only is he FIRED, he has been charged with a felony.”
Dunn has not entered a plea. His attorney had no immediate comment on the charge, which carries up to one year in prison.
The episode has received widespread attention as the Trump administration has deployed federal agents to canvass Washington neighbourhoods and temporarily taken control of the city’s police department to curb what Trump has depicted as a crime emergency in the US capital, though statistics show violent crime has fallen sharply since 2023.
The increased federal presence has drawn a mixed response from residents of the overwhelmingly Democratic city. Several agents on patrol in the Navy Yard neighbourhood were occasionally heckled on Wednesday night, with one onlooker warning others to 'hide your kids, hide your wives' and criticising their bulletproof vests.
Dunn was charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding officers after he allegedly threw the sandwich at a US Customs and Border Protection agent on Sunday night. Dunn allegedly called the officers 'fascists' and yelled “I don’t want you in my city!” before “winding his arm back and forcefully throwing a sub-style sandwich” at the agent, according to a criminal complaint.
Dunn was taken into custody at the scene and admitted to throwing the sandwich, according to the charging document.
The officer did not appear to be injured, according to a video on social media.
Dunn was taken into custody again overnight on Thursday after the federal charge was filed.
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