The brief federal criminal trial last month of Sean Dunn, the man who threw a “submarine-style sandwich” at a Customs and Border Protection officer in downtown Washington, D.C., was only a misdemeanor case. But the courtroom was filled, and the overflow room was crowded, too.

The 12 jurors didn’t realize initially that Dunn’s case — and their verdict — would garner national attention.

One juror thought the deliberations would last under an hour. The juror, a longtime resident of Washington, D.C., also noted that some people in the courtroom struggled to “keep a straight face” during the trial and even laughed openly. 

“It seemed to me like an open and closed type of thing,” another juror said.  “It was kind of ridiculous.” 

Dunn hurled the sandwich at the CBP officer stationed at a busy intersection in August. The incident was widely publicized and quickly became a symbol of resistance against President Trump’s federal policing crackdown and National Guard deployment in the nation’s capital. 

After roughly seven hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Dunn. It was the second time a group of D.C. citizens rejected the Justice Department’s claim that Dunn, who was fired from his job at the Justice Department after the incident, had committed a crime in tossing a sandwich at a federal agent. A separate grand jury had rejected the prosecutors’ request to indict Dunn on a felony charge earlier this year. 

Inside the jury room

Three jurors who sat on the panel spoke with CBS News about the deliberations, revealing how the politically charged case played out behind closed doors in the jury room of the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., near the U.S. Capitol.

All asked to remain anonymous. A court order from the chief judge of the D.C. U.S. District Court prohibits CBS News and other media outlets from publishing the jurors’ names.

The jurors described an initial 10-2 split on the 12-person panel. The deliberations were not as simple as some of them had expected.

The majority of jurors thought the incident did not merit criminal charges, or that criminal intent was not proven, according to two of the members of the panel. One juror told CBS News, “I thought we’d be out of there quickly. This case had no ‘grounding.’ He threw a sandwich at the agent because he knew it wouldn’t hurt. A reasonable person wouldn’t think a sandwich is a weapon.”

A second juror, who told CBS News this was not her first time serving on a D.C. jury, said the panel eventually “agreed that this is not and should not have been a federal case.”   

The jurors said the two initial holdouts worried that a not guilty verdict would send a message that it’s sometimes acceptable to throw things at federal agents.    

The two jurors told CBS News that the jury debated at length about the type of “criminal intent” that needed to have been demonstrated by prosecutors.  

One juror said, “We asked each other: If we only look at this case, can someone really do harm to someone wearing a ballistic vest by throwing a sandwich?”

One of the jurors also credited the “gentle and patient” foreperson with coming up with a productive communications strategy during deliberations.

A juror who spoke with CBS News by phone was surprised to be assigned to the case, because the juror had heard about the prior rejection by a grand jury of Sean Dunn’s felony case.

“I was surprised some of the other jurors were unfamiliar with it,” the juror said, noting the headlines generated by Dunn’s arrest and the video of the sandwich toss in August.

Though the case was a misdemeanor, without the prospect of a lengthy prison term for conviction, one juror said she noticed an unusual tension in the proceedings at trial.  

“There seemed to be a lot of back and forth between lawyers and the judge to begin with. I’ve been on a jury before, and that hasn’t happened,” she said. “So, that kind of stood out to me.”

The notoriety of Dunn’s case and the political tensions surrounding the Trump administration’s deployment of federal agents on the streets in D.C., added a unique stress on the jurors. Three told CBS News they’re worried about being publicly identified and facing the prospect of threats or harassment.

“We were very scared and nervous about what this meant for us,” one juror said.    

The same juror, who was familiar with the case before she was selected, said she thought Dunn looked “really sad and desperate at the defense table because he was going up against the U.S. government.”

One juror noted one witness and some attorneys in the room appeared to “giggle” or fight to keep a “straight face” during some of the testimony. 

“I mean,” the juror said, “it was a thrown sandwich.”

Over the course of USC’s undefeated start, with its star freshman still out, its leading scorer nursing an ailing shoulder and one of its best defenders down because of an injured hip, coach Eric Musselman still managed to make the best of his ravaged roster.

USC had won eight straight, sweeping its nonconference slate and winning its Big Ten opener at Oregon. It swept through the Maui Invitational, beating three real teams in the process. With every punch, the Trojans had been ready to punch back.

Then came Saturday, when a former Trojan delivered the knockout blow in the Big Ten home opener at Galen Center, ending USC’s undefeated start in the most painful fashion possible in an 84-76 loss to Washington.

USC led for all but six minutes and in the first half looked primed to run away with its second Big Ten win, leading by 18 at halftime. But it all came unraveled in the final 10 minutes as Washington scored 24 of the last 30 points to stun USC. It was Desmond Claude, the Trojans’ leading scorer last season, who propelled Washington to victory.

The Trojans still led by 10 with 10 minutes remaining, and after such a resounding start it seemed only a matter of time before they kicked back into gear. But they shot just 25% in the second half after making 50% in the first.

Chad Baker-Mazara led USC with 21 points but made only one of seven shots after halftime. Without him the offense dried up in a hurry.

Washington caught fire late, led by Claude, who had just four points in the first half but finished with 22.

USC cut Washington’s lead to three with just over a minute remaining. But Washington put the ball in Claude’s hands and he delivered, driving for a lay-in high off the glass and getting fouled.

The Huskies started the game in dismal fashion, turning the ball over seven times in the first seven minutes and making only two of their first 12 shots.

But those tides turned completely in the final minutes, dealing USC its first loss — and a brutal one at that.

Washington State coach Jimmy Rogers has agreed to a six-year deal to become the next coach at Iowa State, the school announced Friday.

Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard moved quickly to replace departing coach Matt Campbell, who agreed to an eight-year deal to take over Penn State on Friday, and landed Rogers, a proven winner at the FCS level who just concluded his first regular season at Washington State.

“Jimmy Rogers is a rising star in college athletics who has very strong ties to the Midwest both as a player and as a coach,” Pollard said in a statement. “He has been on my short-list ever since the first time I met him. He immediately impressed me with his interest in Iowa State University and told me during our first visit several years ago that he wanted to be the next head coach at Iowa State.

“Since our initial meeting, I have stayed in close contact with him and have been very impressed with his work ethic and understanding of what it takes to be successful at Iowa State,” Pollard added. “He is a proven winner who has demonstrated throughout his career that he will fit our culture.”

Rogers, 38, has a 33-9 record over three seasons as a head coach. He went 6-6 in his debut season at Washington State after overseeing a significant roster rebuild following the departure of coach Jake Dickert to Wake Forest.

“My family and I are excited to be joining the Iowa State University community and the Cyclone football program,” Rogers said in a statement. “Iowa State has been one of the nation’s top programs for the last decade and we look forward to building upon its upward trajectory. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity that Jamie Pollard has given me to lead the Cyclones.”

Rogers previously spent 12 years at South Dakota State and led his alma mater to an FCS national championship in 2023 with a 15-0 season in his first year as the Jackrabbits’ head coach after taking over for longtime coach John Stiegelmeier.

Rogers carried a 29-game win streak into his second year as coach and achieved a No. 3 finish in 2024 with a run to the FCS playoff semifinals and a 12-3 season.

The Jackrabbits also won the FCS national championship in 2022 after Rogers was elevated to being the team’s sole defensive coordinator, and they played for another FCS title in 2020.

Campbell, the winningest coach in Iowa State history with 72 victories, led the Cyclones to eight winning seasons during his decade at the helm and two appearances in the Big 12 championship game.

The Cyclones went 8-4 this season and are awaiting their bowl selection on Sunday.