The trial of a man charged with assaulting a Customs and Border Protection agent by throwing a sandwich at his chest in protest began on Monday, several months after federal prosecutors failed to persuade a grand jury to approve a felony indictment against him over the incident.
Sean C. Dunn, a former paralegal for the Justice Department, will instead go to court to fight a misdemeanor assault charge in the August episode. A video of it circulated widely on social media, making him a symbol of local opposition to President Trump’s deployment of troops and federal agents in Washington.
The case stands out for its unusual facts and the Trump administration’s determination to prosecute the man, even on a lesser charge. But it is one of a number of unusually minor cases the government is bringing to federal court at Mr. Trump’s direction.
Since August, Mr. Trump has maintained a constant presence of armed National Guard troops and federal agents on Washington’s streets, arguing they are necessary to fight crime even as crime rates were already plunging. Along the way, Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney in Washington and former Fox News host, has directed her office to aggressively prosecute any crimes that come up, despite embarrassing setbacks with local grand juries refusing to return indictments, as they did in Mr. Dunn’s case.
According to the government’s court filings, Mr. Dunn yelled obscenities at the officers and called them “fascists” before “winding his arm back and forcefully throwing a sub-style sandwich” at the agent.
“Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city,” he yelled, according to charging documents.
Leading up to the trial, federal prosecutors and Mr. Dunn’s lawyers sparred over how to properly instruct the jury, given the unusual nature of the charges. That included discussion over the definition of federal misdemeanor assault, which typically requires physical contact, and whether the incident could be considered interfering with the agent’s duties.
Jury selection could be complicated by the notoriety of the incident, after Halloween decoration tributes and posters depicting Mr. Dunn in the style of the street artist Banksy have sprouted up around the city.
Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, is presiding over the case.
Mr. Dunn’s lawyers have described the case as a “blatant abuse of power” and said that the prosecution is a response to Mr. Dunn’s political speech directed at the Trump administration and the monthslong deployment of troops around the city. They have argued that the prosecution is vindictive and that throwing a sandwich at a “fully armed, heavily protected” agent would not have led to charges at any other protest or demonstration.
“That act alone would never have drawn a federal charge,” they wrote. “What did was the political speech that accompanied it.”
Zach Montague is a Times reporter covering the federal courts, including the legal disputes over the Trump administration’s agenda.
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