WASHINGTON — The D.C. man accused of assaulting a U.S. Border Patrol agent with a Subway sandwich was found not guilty by a jury Thursday, the culmination of a three-month criminal case that was both an absurd spectacle and a deeply serious clash over protest and prosecution in the Trump era.
Sean Dunn, a 37-year-old Air Force veteran and former Justice Department paralegal, faced up to a year in jail for hurling what became known as the hoagie heard around the world. His acquittal following a two-day trial amounts to a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s immigration and crime crackdown in Washington, as well as another embarrassing legal setback for Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for D.C., whom he appointed.
“I am so happy that justice prevails in spite of everything,” Dunn said outside outside the courthouse following the verdict. “That night I believe I was protecting the rights of immigrants… Every life matters, no matter where you came from, no matter how you got here, no matter how you identify.”
Viral video from Aug. 10 showed Dunn shouting at the Border Patrol agent, Gregory Lairmore, before heaving a sandwich at his chest, running away and getting arrested after a brief foot chase. With anger brewing across the city over Trump’s takeover of city policing and deployment of the National Guard, Dunn quickly grew into a footlong folk hero and symbol of anti-Trump resistance.
