‘Exploded All Over My Uniform’: Border Patrol Agent Testifies at ‘Sandwich Guy’ Assault Trial

Testimony at the trial of a Washington, D.C. man known virally as “Sandwich Guy” after throwing a submarine sandwich at a Border Patrol agent included descriptions of an exploding sandwich, what it smelled like, and the force of the throw.Former Department of Justice employee Sean C. Dunn is on trial for a misdemeanor assault charge in connection with the incident.The agent who was hit, Gregory Lairmore, testified on Tuesday that he could feel the impact of the sandwich through his ballistic vest and it “exploded all over my uniform.”Mr. Lairmore testified he could “smell the onions and the mustard,” according to Lawfare writer Molly Roberts, who was in the court for day two of the trial. Mr. Lairmore said he had an onion hanging on his radio antenna after the sandwich hit him.The defense questioned Mr. Lairmore about his account of the incident, while calling him a “seasoned officer.” They showed an Instagram video of a sandwich wrapped on the ground after he was hit. The defense said Mr. Lairmore wouldn’t be able to tell what was on the sandwich, be it lettuce, tomato, or mayonnaise. “In fact, that sandwich hasn’t exploded at all,” the defense stated.Mr. Lairmore said he had no way to verify if the sandwich in the video was the one that struck him.The defense then questioned Mr. Lairmore about gag gifts that his colleagues gave him after the incident, including a plush sandwich and a “Felony Footlong” patch. Defense attorney Sabrina Schroff said they showed the agents recognized the incident was “worthy of a joke.”The next witness, a detective with the Metro Transit Police, Daina Henry, described the sandwich throw like a “baseball pitch” but the prosecution didn’t take the opportunity to ask if there was any mustard on the throw.Mr. Dunn was protesting the deployment of federal offices in the city as part of President Trump’s crime-fighting plan when he screamed at the agents and then threw the sandwich in a busy nightclub district little more than a mile from the White House.Before the toss, authorities said Mr. Dunn shouted, “F*** you! You f***ing fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!”“No matter who you are, you can’t just go around throwing stuff at people when you’re mad,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parron told jurors in his opening remarks.Defense attorney Julia Gatto began her opening statement with, “He did it. He threw the sandwich,” but added that it was “an exclamation mark at the end of a verbal outburst.”“It was a harmless gesture at the end of him exercising his right to speak out, ” Ms. Gatto said. “He is overwhelmingly not guilty.”The jury was seated in the case on Monday — which happened to be National Sandwich Day — and U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols used a white noise maker to block members of the public and the press from hearing how potential jurors are answering questions by lawyers in the case, according to the Associated Press.Mr. Dunn has become somewhat of a folk hero among critics of the armed federal presence in the heavily Democratic city. Some residents have plastered Banksy-style posters of Mr. Dunn around the city and he became the inspiration for Halloween costumes this year.U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office decided to go ahead with the prosecution of Mr. Dunn on a misdemeanor assault charge after a federal grand jury rejected an attempt to secure a felony assault indictment. Potential jurors who were not selected expressed skepticism of the case.“I don’t know how a DC jury would convict,” one unnamed dismissed potential juror told CNN.“Didn’t he already lose his job?” another man dismissed from the jury pool asked a reporter.Mr. Dunn pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge in September. He remained in the courthouse during the trial’s lunch break and ate a bowl of soup in the cafeteria, Ms. Roberts reported.Testimony ended for the day in the mid-afternoon because of a dispute over jury instructions. The defense asked for a delay in the trial until that question is resolved and the judge agreed. The case is expected to resume on Wednesday morning.Judge Nichols had previously described the trial as “the simplest case in the history of the world” and expected it to last two days. That timeline was in question with the trial delay.

‘Exploded All Over My Uniform’: Border Patrol Agent Testifies at ‘Sandwich Guy’ Assault Trial

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