Man who threw sandwich at US border agent not guilty of assault

A protester in Washington has been found not guilty of assault after video emerged of him throwing a sandwich at a US Border Patrol agent.

Lawyers for Sean Dunn, 37, do not dispute that he threw the sandwich on August 10 this year, but argue that it was not a criminal act.

The jury's verdict came after Customs and Border Patrol agent Gregory Laremore testified that the snack “exploded around him” and he “smelled onions and mustard” on his uniform.

Video of the incident went viral, making Mr. Dunn a symbol of opposition in Washington, D.C., to President Donald Trump's deployment of federal agents and National Guard troops in the city.

Thursday's verdict followed a two-day trial.

After he was acquitted, Mr Dunn told reporters he was “relieved and looking forward to getting on with his life”. After the incident, he was fired from his job as a legal assistant at the Department of Justice.

Government prosecutors initially tried to bring felony charges against Dunn, but a grand jury declined to indict him. Instead, prosecutors charged him with a misdemeanor.

Trump's deployment of National Guard troops to Washington this summer sparked outrage among some in the city, who saw it as a politicization of the military. The White House has argued that the force is needed to fight crime.

Mr Dunn allegedly approached a group of officers late, calling them “fascists” and shouting: “Why are you here? I don't want you in my city!

On Tuesday the court witnessed Mr Laremore's re-enactment as he gave evidence against Mr Dunne.

“I felt it through my ballistic vest,” he said of the sandwich's impact, adding that there was an onion string hanging from his police radio and mustard stained his shirt.

He added that colleagues have since become the target of ridicule. He was also given a toy sandwich with a patch that read “foot-long crime.”

In closing arguments on Wednesday, Mr. Dunn's lawyer, Julia Gatto, cited jokes about the incident made by Mr. Laremore's colleagues as evidence it was not an attack. “They all think it's funny,” she told the jury.