Man charged with felony for throwing sandwich at federal agent amid D.C. takeover

The Justice Department on Thursday fired the man accused of throwing a Subway sandwich at a federal agent in the District over the weekend after learning he was one of the agency’s staff members.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said Sean Charles Dunn, 37, was booted from his job after he was charged with felony assault of a police officer in the viral confrontation sparked by President Trump’s takeover of policing in the nation’s capital.

“This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ,” Ms. Bondi wrote on X. “You will not work in this administration while disrespecting our government and law enforcement.”

Mr. Dunn worked as an international affairs specialist in the department’s criminal division, according to The Associated Press

Court documents said Mr. Dunn faces charges of assaulting federal law enforcement over the caught-on-video altercation late Sunday on the 2000 block of 14th Street Northwest.

The filing said Mr. Dunn got in the face of a Customs and Border Patrol agent and yelled “F—- you! You f—-ing fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!”

At the end of his tirade, the documents said Mr. Dunn was seen “winding his arm back and forcefully throwing a sub-style sandwich” at the agent. 

Prosecutors said Mr. Dunn tried to run away but was quickly caught by agents. Court documents said he admitted to throwing the sandwich.

“He thought it was funny,” Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said in her own video announcing the charges. “Well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today because we charged him with a felony, assault on a police officer, and we’re gonna back the police to the hilt. So there, stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else.”

Federal agents and National Guard troops have been deployed across the District after Mr. Trump launched a federal takeover due to rampant lawlessness.

The White House said that as of Wednesday, the surge netted more than 100 arrests, ranging from homicide to gun, drug and illegal immigration charges.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, and the D.C. Council, largely made up of Democrats, have rejected the president’s rationale for the takeover by citing Metropolitan Police statistics showing a 30-year low in violent crime. This comes two years after the District witnessed a generational crime wave of deadly shootings, runaway carjackings and frequent muggings. 

The Trump administration said the District has one of the highest murder rates in the nation, outpacing other big cities such as New York and Chicago, and its car thefts total three times the national average.