Jury selection underway in Dunn sandwich assault trial

Jury selection began Monday in the federal misdemeanor assault trial of Sean Charles Dunn, a Washington, D.C., resident accused of throwing a submarine-style sandwich at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent outside a nightclub on the night of Aug. 10. The viral video of the incident helped make Dunn a visible symbol of local opposition to the deployment of federal agents in the city, and the case has drawn attention because a grand jury declined to return a felony indictment before prosecutors filed the lesser charge.

Prosecutors say Dunn crossed a legal line when he hurled the sandwich at the agent at point-blank range while shouting at the officers. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Parron told jurors, "No matter who you are, you can't just go around throwing stuff at people because you're mad." The government has charged Dunn with assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating and interfering with a federal officer.

Dunn has not disputed throwing the sandwich. Defense attorneys contend the act was a political protest and part of protected speech expressing opposition to the administration's law enforcement surge in the capital. "It was a harmless gesture at the end...