SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A person walks past art work depicting former DOJ employee Sean Charles Dunn is displayed against a restaurant wall on August 17, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Tom Brenner for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
DC Grand Jury Refuses to Indict Sandwich-Throwing Man Opposed to Trump City Takeover
The Times described the grand jury's refusal to indict Sean Dunn as a "remarkable failure" by prosecutors and "a sharp rebuke by ordinary citizens."
Aug 27, 2025
A grand jury on Tuesday reportedly refused to hand down a felony indictment against Sean Dunn, a former paralegal at the United States Department of Justice who hurled a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer earlier this month.
Two sources have told The New York Times that federal prosecutors came up empty in their first attempt to get a grand jury to charge Dunn with felony assault against a federal officer, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.
The New York Times described this development as a "remarkable failure" and "a sharp rebuke by ordinary citizens against the team of prosecutors who are dealing with the fallout from President Trump's move to send National Guard troops and federal agents into the city on patrol."
Video of Dunn hurling a sandwich at the officer quickly went viral earlier this month. Before he threw the sandwich, Dunn was heard calling the officers "fascists," and telling them they were not welcome in his city.
Shortly after, current US Attorney and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro vowed to throw the proverbial book at Dunn for his food-tossing transgressions.
"He thought it was funny," Pirro said in a video she posted on social media. "Well, he doesn't think it's funny today because we charged him with a felony. And we're gonna back the police to the hilt! So, there. Stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else."
This is at least the second time in recent days that Pirro's office has failed to secure a grand jury indictment for alleged assault of a federal officer.
The New York Times reported on Monday that federal prosecutors had reduced charges against a woman named Sidney Lori Reid, who was accused of assaulting an FBI agent during a protest against Trump's immigration policies last month. The decision to refile Reid's case as a misdemeanor came after prosecutors failed on three separate occasions to convince a grand jury to charge her with felony offenses.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
A grand jury on Tuesday reportedly refused to hand down a felony indictment against Sean Dunn, a former paralegal at the United States Department of Justice who hurled a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer earlier this month.
Two sources have told The New York Times that federal prosecutors came up empty in their first attempt to get a grand jury to charge Dunn with felony assault against a federal officer, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.
The New York Times described this development as a "remarkable failure" and "a sharp rebuke by ordinary citizens against the team of prosecutors who are dealing with the fallout from President Trump's move to send National Guard troops and federal agents into the city on patrol."
Video of Dunn hurling a sandwich at the officer quickly went viral earlier this month. Before he threw the sandwich, Dunn was heard calling the officers "fascists," and telling them they were not welcome in his city.
Shortly after, current US Attorney and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro vowed to throw the proverbial book at Dunn for his food-tossing transgressions.
"He thought it was funny," Pirro said in a video she posted on social media. "Well, he doesn't think it's funny today because we charged him with a felony. And we're gonna back the police to the hilt! So, there. Stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else."
This is at least the second time in recent days that Pirro's office has failed to secure a grand jury indictment for alleged assault of a federal officer.
The New York Times reported on Monday that federal prosecutors had reduced charges against a woman named Sidney Lori Reid, who was accused of assaulting an FBI agent during a protest against Trump's immigration policies last month. The decision to refile Reid's case as a misdemeanor came after prosecutors failed on three separate occasions to convince a grand jury to charge her with felony offenses.
From Your Site Articles
- Assault With A Deli Weapon ›
- 'Most Illegal Search I've Ever Seen': Trump's DC Crackdown Results in Stream of Abuses ›
- Trump Official 'Irate' After Grand Juries Refuse to Indict LA Anti-ICE Protesters: Report ›
- Opinion | Jury Duty: Ordinary Heroes Use a Building Block of Democracy to Fight Trump | Common Dreams ›
Related Articles Around the Web
A grand jury on Tuesday reportedly refused to hand down a felony indictment against Sean Dunn, a former paralegal at the United States Department of Justice who hurled a sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer earlier this month.
Two sources have told The New York Times that federal prosecutors came up empty in their first attempt to get a grand jury to charge Dunn with felony assault against a federal officer, a crime that carries a maximum sentence of eight years in prison.
The New York Times described this development as a "remarkable failure" and "a sharp rebuke by ordinary citizens against the team of prosecutors who are dealing with the fallout from President Trump's move to send National Guard troops and federal agents into the city on patrol."
Video of Dunn hurling a sandwich at the officer quickly went viral earlier this month. Before he threw the sandwich, Dunn was heard calling the officers "fascists," and telling them they were not welcome in his city.
Shortly after, current US Attorney and former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro vowed to throw the proverbial book at Dunn for his food-tossing transgressions.
"He thought it was funny," Pirro said in a video she posted on social media. "Well, he doesn't think it's funny today because we charged him with a felony. And we're gonna back the police to the hilt! So, there. Stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else."
This is at least the second time in recent days that Pirro's office has failed to secure a grand jury indictment for alleged assault of a federal officer.
The New York Times reported on Monday that federal prosecutors had reduced charges against a woman named Sidney Lori Reid, who was accused of assaulting an FBI agent during a protest against Trump's immigration policies last month. The decision to refile Reid's case as a misdemeanor came after prosecutors failed on three separate occasions to convince a grand jury to charge her with felony offenses.
From Your Site Articles
- Assault With A Deli Weapon ›
- 'Most Illegal Search I've Ever Seen': Trump's DC Crackdown Results in Stream of Abuses ›
- Trump Official 'Irate' After Grand Juries Refuse to Indict LA Anti-ICE Protesters: Report ›
- Opinion | Jury Duty: Ordinary Heroes Use a Building Block of Democracy to Fight Trump | Common Dreams ›
Related Articles Around the Web
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.