Washington, D.C., Aug. 13, 2025
A man has been charged in federal court with assaulting a law enforcement officer after allegedly throwing a sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in the nation’s capital, officials said.
According to a criminal complaint reviewed by USA TODAY, Sean Charles Dunn confronted Agent Gregory Lairmore at about 11 p.m. on Aug. 10 along the U Street corridor, where hundreds of officers from multiple federal agencies were deployed under President Donald Trump’s recent law enforcement surge.
Dunn allegedly shouted, “Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!” before using profanity and calling the officers “fascists.” The complaint says he then threw a sub-style sandwich at Lairmore’s chest before fleeing. Social media videos show a man in a pink shirt and shorts throwing the sandwich and running, with the incident taking place in front of a Subway restaurant.
Dunn has been charged with one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and employees of the United States. It was not immediately clear if he had legal representation.
“He thought it was funny. Well, he doesn’t think it’s funny today because we charged him with a felony,” U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro said. “And we’re going to back the police to the hilt.”
The incident occurred during Trump’s deployment of roughly 450 federal agents to Washington, D.C., on Aug. 9 and 10, aimed at curbing crime. A day after the alleged assault, Trump announced he would also send in National Guard troops and place the D.C. police department under federal control, part of a broader effort that includes removing homeless people from city streets.
Trump described the move as a “historic action to rescue our nation’s capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor.”
