In a city already tense under an aggressive law-and-order drive, a grand jury in Washington has refused to indict Sean Dunn, a former Justice Department employee accused of an oddly symbolic act: throwing a sub sandwich at a federal agent.
Prosecutors had pressed for a felony assault charge, claiming Dunn hurled the sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officer during an August 10 sweep ordered under President Trump’s crackdown in the capital. Dunn, who once worked on international cases at the Justice Department before being dismissed, was caught on video shouting “I don’t want you in my city!” and calling officers “fascists” before launching the food projectile.
The decision stunned many inside the courthouse walls. Grand juries almost never block prosecutors at this early stage, which is why one judge famously quipped that a determined prosecutor could “indict a ham sandwich.” In this case, however, the sandwich got the better of the system.
The episode has highlighted the obstacles prosecutors face as they are pressed to file the harshest possible charges against those swept up in Trump’s deployment of federal agents and National Guard troops. Official statistics show violent crime in Washington has actually dipped after an earlier spike, but the administration has portrayed the city as spiraling out of control.
Dunn’s arrest quickly turned him into an unlikely face of resistance, with protesters holding up posters of a man tossing a sandwich as a rallying cry. The Justice Department, meanwhile, showcased his case in a video meant to warn against defying federal officers.
The rejection does not mean Dunn is free for good. Prosecutors are expected to take another shot before a different grand jury, which federal law allows within 30 days of an arrest.
The failed indictment is not an isolated setback. Earlier this month, prosecutors also struck out three times trying to indict a woman accused of injuring an FBI agent’s hand outside a Washington jail. That case was eventually downgraded to a misdemeanor.
For now, the sandwich saga lingers—part absurdist protest, part test of how far Washington’s crackdown can actually go.
