You could smell the onions': Man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent says it was a protest. Prosecutors say it's a crime

You could smell the onions': Man who threw a sandwich at a federal agent says it was a protest. Prosecutors say it's a crime

Briefly

"Dunn doesn't dispute that he threw his submarine-style sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent outside a nightclub on the night of Aug. 10. It was an exclamation point for Dunn as he expressed his opposition to President Donald Trump's law-enforcement surge in the nation's capital, defense attorney Julia Gatto said during the trial's opening statements. It was a harmless gesture at the end of him exercising his right to speak out, Gatto said. He is overwhelmingly not guilty."

"A bystander's cellphone video of the confrontation went viral on social media, turning Dunn into a symbol of resistance against Trump's monthslong federal takeover. Murals depicting him mid-throw popped up in the city virtually overnight. He did it. He threw the sandwich, Gatto told jurors. And now the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has turned that moment a thrown sandwich into a criminal case, a federal criminal case charging a federal offense."

"A grand jury refused to indict Dunn on a felony assault count, part of a pattern of pushback against the Justice Department's prosecution of surge-related criminal cases. After the rare rebuke from the grand jury, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office charged Dunn instead with a misdemeanor. CBP Agent Gregory Lairmore, the government's first witness, said the sandwich exploded when it struck his chest hard enough that he could feel it through his ballistic vest. You could smell the onions and the mustard, he recalled."