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Jurors are hearing evidence in the case of a Washington, D.C., man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent. The case has come to symbolize how parts of the city are responding to President Trump's law enforcement surge. NPR's Carrie Johnson reports.
CARRIE JOHNSON, BYLINE: On the night of August 10, federal agents gathered on a busy street corner for a crime patrol. President Trump had signed an order to make D.C. safe and beautiful, and surge immigration and other agents there. Their presence outside a gay bar on Latin night infuriated Sean Charles Dunn. Bystander video captured Dunn screaming at Customs and Border Protection agents.
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SEAN CHARLES DUNN: You see these fascists? Right here, in our city.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Fascists?
JOHNSON: Then Dunn threw his footlong sub sandwich, hitting Agent Gregory Lairmore in the chest. Lairmore, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, told jurors the sandwich exploded. He says he smelled onions and mustard, but he was not hurt. Later, prosecutors charged Dunn with assaulting or impeding a federal agent. They say this case is about the fact that you can't go around throwing stuff at people when you're mad. Former prosecutor Randall Eliason says a misdemeanor charge is appropriate here.
RANDALL ELIASON: He was captured on videotape, and this is actually an assault. You can't throw things at a federal police officer.
JOHNSON: This week, Judge Carl Nichols said this is the simplest case in the history of the world. But prosecutors seem to understand they could have a hard time persuading D.C. jurors to convict Dunn, after a grand jury refused to indict him on a felony charge. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro addressed the challenge at a recent news conference.
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JEANINE PIRRO: A courtroom is a sterile room where you come in, you listen to the facts and the evidence. You leave all your prejudices outside.
JOHNSON: Dunn's lawyers admit he threw the sandwich, but they say the government's making a federal case out of a harmless gesture that caused no harm or injury. On cross-examination, they provoked Agent Lairmore to smile and laugh about the incident and acknowledge his colleagues gave him gag gifts. He's kept the plush sandwich and patch that says, felony footlong. The defense lawyers - former public defenders - teased out the absurdity of the situation. Former prosecutor Paul Butler.
PAUL BUTLER: Just as the grand jury may have refused to indict as a protest against prosecutorial overreaching, an ordinary jury might also refuse to convict Mr. Dunn. That's called jury nullification.
JOHNSON: Dunn's likeness now appears across D.C. on protest banners and posters. Dunn was fired by the Justice Department after the incident. His GoFundMe page says he also served six years in the Air Force and worked for the Forest Service. He's still out of work. The trial's expected to wrap up before the end of the week. Carrie Johnson, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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