'Smell the onions': Jury hears how colleagues ridiculed agent attacked by Sandwich Guy

A Border Patrol agent testified that a former federal worker threw a sandwich at him so hard he felt the impact through his ballistic vest.

Sean Dunn, who was fired from his Justice Department job after becoming known as the "D.C. Sandwich Guy," is standing trial this week for misdemeanor assault of a federal officer. Border Patrol agent Gregory Lairmore narrated surveillance video Tuesday in court showing the incident.

"Lairmore testifies that he was not injured by the sandwich, but he felt the impact through his ballistic vest," reported HuffPost's Dave Jamieson. "The sandwich came apart and 'kind of exploded' on his chest upon impact, he says."

"'I could smell the onions and mustard,'" Lairmore testified, according to Jamieson.

Defense attorneys then asked the judge whether they could ask Lairmore about "gag gifts" he received from fellow officers after the incident, including a subway sandwich plush toy and a patch that said "felony footlong." After prosecutors objected, Dunn's attorneys argued the gifts would reflect the "state of mind" among fellow agents.

"Sounds like we won’t end up seeing these physically but will hear them described," reported Lawfare's Molly Roberts.

On cross-examination, defense attorneys asked Lairmore about the "Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful" executive order he was supporting the night he was decked with the sandwich, but the agent said he hadn't read it, and then they returned to the video evidence.

"They show a video still of the sandwich and wrapper on the ground, post-throw," Jamieson reported. "'Do you recognize that sandwich?' the attorney asks. Lairmore won't confirm. 'I did not go back to collect it,' he says."

Defense attorneys pressed the agent on whether the sandwich actually "exploded," looking again at a photo of the sandwich and wrapper on the ground.

"'That sandwich hasn't exploded at all, has it?' defense asks," according to Jamieson. "'It looks like a little bit is coming out towards the bottom,' Lairmore replies."

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said before jury selection started Monday that he did not expect the trial to last more than two days "because it's the simplest case in the world," and federal prosecutors ended up charging Dunn with a misdemeanor after U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office failed to convince a grand jury to indict him on felony charges.