A jury trial is now under way for a former Department of Justice employee arrested for hurling his submarine sandwich at a Border Patrol agent patrolling the streets of Washington, D.C., in August.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office decided to go ahead with the prosecution of Sean C. Dunn on a misdemeanor assault charge after a federal grand jury refused to indict him on a felony assault charge.

The “Sandwich Guy,” a.k.a. the “Subway Slapper,” received nationwide attention after a video of the incident went viral. Mr. Dunn was protesting the deployment of federal officers in the city as part of President Trump’s crime-fighting and immigration enforcement plans.

Mr. Dunn threw the sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent, Gregory Lairmore, 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!”

Mr. Dunn ran from the scene but was arrested and released. He was later rearrested when heavily armed law enforcement officers descended on his apartment. Federal authorities highlighted the arrest in social media videos.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Mr. Dunn’s firing on X and referred to him as “an example of the Deep State.”

Mr. Dunn pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge in September.

Jury section began Monday and U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols blocked members of the public and the press from hearing how potential jurors are answering questions by lawyers in the case, NBC News reported, noting that the judge’s actions could be considered unconstitutional.

Mr. Dunn’s lawyers asked the judge, a Trump appointee, to dismiss the case, calling the prosecution vindictive and selective. They claim the government is trying to punish Mr. Dunn for political speech directed at the Trump administration. Prosecutors say that’s nonsense and Mr. Dunn assaulted the federal agent by throwing the sandwich at “point-blank range.”

Judge Nichols allowed the trial to proceed but said he expects the trial to last no more than two days, the Associated Press reported, “because it’s the simplest case in the world.”

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.