‘Exploded All Over’: Border Patrol Agent Testifies After Viral Subway Sandwich Attack

A United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent testified Tuesday at the trial of a former Department of Justice (DOJ) employee accused of throwing a sandwich at him in August.

CBP Agent Gregory Lairmore told a federal court in Washington, D.C., that after Sean Dunn threw the Subway sandwich at him, his uniform had mustard stains, and an onion string was found near his radio, CBS News reported. Dunn was fired from the DOJ after the incident. He is facing a federal misdemeanor charge after a grand jury in the District of Columbia refused to indict him on felony charges.

Lairmore compared the incident to a “baseball pitch,” saying the sub “exploded all over” him, that the impact was felt through his body armor and that he “could smell the onions and mustard,” according to CBS News. Court documents say Dunn was screaming obscenities and labeling the federal agents “fascists.”

Dunn’s attorney, Julia Gatto, claimed Dunn threw the sandwich as a protest against the federal crackdown on crime in the District of Columbia, according to The Hill.

“It was a harmless gesture at the end of him exercising his right to speak out,” Gatto said. “He is overwhelmingly not guilty.”

Lairmore was cross-examined by lead defense counsel Sabrina Shroff, who claimed that gag gifts given to him by fellow agents, including a “felony footlong” patch and a plush toy shaped like a sandwich, indicated knowledge that the case was overblown, The Los Angeles Times