The former Justice Department employee who was arrested for throwing a Subway sandwich at an immigration enforcement officer in August asked for his federal assault charge to be dismissed.
Sean Charles Dunn’s attorneys said the government’s case against the man is “over conduct so minor it would be comical,” and claimed they only chose to prosecute due to his criticism of the government.
“This prosecution is a blatant abuse of power,” his attorneys wrote in a court filing last week.
“The federal government has chosen to bring a criminal case over conduct so minor it would be comical—were it not for the unmistakable retaliatory motive behind it and the resulting risk to Mr. Dunn,” they added.
Prosecutors previously failed to secure a felony assault charge against Dunn, but managed to levy a misdemeanor assault charge against him.
“Mr. Dunn tossed a sandwich at a fully armed, heavily protected Customs and Border Protection (‘CBP’) officer. That act alone would never have drawn a federal charge,” his lawyers said. “What did was the political speech that accompanied it.”
Dunn allegedly swore at the officers for several minutes during the incident, calling one a “fascist,” before chucking a sandwich into an officer’s chest. He then sprinted away from the officers until they caught him. The incident went viral on social media.
His arrest came as federal officers, the D.C. National Guard, and a federalized Metropolitan Police Department cracked down on crime and illegal immigration in the city. Protests popped up around the nation’s capital opposing President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on crime in D.C.
Dunn’s attorneys said the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office, headed by Jeanine Pirro, could not find any comparable cases involving a person tossing a soft object at an officer that “came anywhere close to this level of force, publicity, and humiliation.”
Pirro had released a video after Dunn’s arrest, saying they had charged him with a felony. She also asked him to “stick your Subway sandwich somewhere else.”
The Department of Justice fired Dunn from his job, and a SWAT team raided his home to arrest him, even though he had offered to turn himself in voluntarily.
DC MAN WHO FLUNG SANDWICH AT FEDERAL AGENT HIT WITH MISDEMEANOR ASSAULT
His attorneys said the entire pursuit of charges was “viewpoint discrimination.”
“This is, plain and simple, political viewpoint discrimination. And the Constitution forbids it,” the motion to dismiss reads. The motion goes to U.S. District Judge Carl J. Nichols, who was appointed by Trump in 2019, to decide if the case will be tossed. If not, it will go to trial on Nov. 3.