The Dictatorship
Jeanine Pirro should have known better
Among a U.S. attorney’s most significant responsibilities is a proper allocation of resources. For every case the office pursues, another goes unaddressed.
That’s why Washington, D.C., U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s decision to prosecute a man for throwing a sandwich at a federal agent wasn’t just silly, but irresponsible. And in this case, pursuing an assault case against that man was downright lawless.
Pirro should have known better than to file assault charges.
A jury indicated its agreement Thursday when it returned a not-guilty verdict against 37-year-old Air Force veteran Sean Dunn, who admitted he threw a Subway sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection agent. Dunn claimed it was an act of protest against President Donald Trump for declaring an emergency and surging federal law enforcement agents into Washington, D.C.
Pirro should have known better than to file assault charges because the facts didn’t satisfy the elements of the offense. To prove an assault under the federal statutethe prosecution must establish not just that Dunn threw the sandwich at the agent, but that the act constituted a “forcible assault.”
As Judge Carl J. Nichols, a Trump appointee, correctly instructed the jury: to establish a forcible assault, jurors were required to find that Dunn caused “reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm.” Anyone who has seen the video of the incident that was played for jurors would find that allegation laughable — if the government’s attempt to punish Dunn weren’t so serious.

As defense attorney Sabrina Shroff argued, “A footlong from Subway could not and certainly did not inflict bodily harm.” The video showed that when Dunn threw the sandwich, it hit CBP Agent Gregory Lairmore — in his bulletproof vest! Lairmore testified that the sandwich “exploded all over his vest,” leaving the smell of onions and mustard on his uniform, even though a photo showed the sandwich on the ground still in its wrapper.
The agent’s testimony elicited laughter in the courtroom.
Regardless of whether any condiments stained Lairmore’s clothing, the point was made. As Shroff pointed out in her closing argument, the prosecution had failed to prove that Dunn had created a “reasonable apprehension of immediate bodily harm,” as the law requires. “If the vest is designed to protect an agent from gunfire,” she argued, “it is “definitely going to keep you safe from a sandwich.”
If the vest is designed to protect an agent from gunfire, it is definitely going to keep you safe from a sandwich.
DEFENSE ATTORNEY SABRINA SHROFF
Following the verdict, Pirro told the press“Even children know when they are angry, they are not allowed to throw objects at one another.” True, but we don’t charge children with crimes every time they throw a stuffed animal, either, regardless of the indignity it may cause. And as every prosecutor should know, even for adults, criminal law is not the remedy for every wrong. It is also wrong to insult someone or to make an obscene gesture, but we don’t charge people for calling someone a bad name or flipping a middle finger. These acts may be offensive, but they are not criminal.
I agree with Pirro’s basic point that throwing any object at a federal agent creates social harm by making it more difficult for them to do their jobs, and that deterrence is necessary to prevent others from following suit. I also feel sympathy for the agents who, despite some incidents of apparent overreach, are mostly out there just doing their jobs as assigned. Some, no doubt, resent being used as pawns in Trump’s political theater. But criminal charges are not the only remedy available here. In fact, Dunn lost his job as a paralegal at the Department of Justice over the incident.

As for criminal accountability, Pirro and her team could have pursued other, more measured options, to hold Dunn accountable: such as a ticket for disorderly conduct or pretrial diversion requiring community service.
Instead, the federal government expended its scarce resources staging a high-profile arrest of Dunn at his apartment for the cameras. The White House posted a video of that scene on its social media accounts — in violation of Justice Department policy. Prosecutors occupied the valuable time of a federal grand jury to seek an indictment. Failing to obtain one, they filed misdemeanor charges instead, which require no grand jury approval. Pirro’s people clogged the judge’s docket, summoned jurors and spent three days trying to prove a case that was doomed from the start.
Meanwhile, we will probably never know which case went uncharged, just so that the sandwich case could get its day in court. A robbery? A drug deal? An actual assault? Not knowing what Pirro’s office diverted its attention away from is why even an acquittal in this case should leave a bad taste in our mouths.
Barbara McQuade is an BLN columnist and NBC News and BLN legal analyst. She is the author of “Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America,”as well as a professor at the University of Michigan Law School and a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.
The Dictatorship
French company Capgemini to sell subsidiary working with ICE
PARIS (AP) — French company Capgemini announced Sunday it is selling off its subsidiary that provides technology services to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, during global scrutiny of ICE agents’ tactics in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
France’s government had pressured the company to be more transparent about its dealings with ICE, whose actions in Minneapolis in recent weeks have raised concern in France and other countries. The government’s campaign against immigrants in Minnesota’s capital has led to the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens at the hands of federal immigration officers.
Capgemini said in a statement Sunday that it will immediately start the process of selling off its subsidiary Capgemini Government Solutions. It said the rules for working with U.S. federal government agencies ″did now allow the group to exercise appropriate control over certain aspects of the operations of this subsidiary to ensure alignment with the group’s objectives.″
It didn’t give further explanation for the decision, but noted that the subsidiary represents only 0.4% of the company’s estimated 2025 revenue.
Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat said he was only recently made aware of the subsidiary’s contract with ICE. In a LinkedIn post, he said, “The nature and scope of this work has raised questions compared to what we typically do as a business and technology firm.’’
The company selloff announcement came after French Finance Minister Roland Lescure, speaking to parliament last week, urged Capgemini ″to shed light, in an extremely transparent manner, on its activities … and to question the nature of these activities.″ Lescure’s office did not comment on the company’s decision.
Non-governmental organization Multinationals Observatory reported that Capgemini Government Solutions provided ICE technical tools to locate targets for the immigration crackdown. CapgemiSni did not immediately respond to a query about the tools.
Capgemini is a consulting and technology company that employs more than 340,000 people in more than 50 countries.
The Dictatorship
‘Melania’ opens with strong ticket sales for a documentary
NEW YORK (AP) — Promoted by President Donald Trump as “a must watch,” the Melania Trump documentary “Melania” debuted with a better-than-expected $7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The release of “Melania” was unlike any seen before. Amazon MGM Studios paid $40 million for the rights, plus some $35 million to market it, making it the most expensive documentary ever. Directed by Brett Ratner, who had been exiled from Hollywood since 2017, the film about the first lady debuted in 1,778 theaters in the midst of Trump’s turbulent second term.
While the result would be a flop for most films with such high costs, “Melania” was a success by documentary standards. It’s the best opening weekend for a documentary, outside of concert films, in 14 years. Going into the weekend, estimates ranged from $3 million to $5 million.
But there was little to compare “Melania” to, given that presidential families typically eschew in-office memoir or documentary releases to avoid the appearance of capitalizing on the White House. The film chronicles Melania Trump over 20 days last January, leading up to Trump’s second inauguration.

Marc Beckman, left, shake hands with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer as they arrive for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s movie “Melania” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Marc Beckman, left, shake hands with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and his wife Jennifer as they arrive for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump’s movie “Melania” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
On Thursday, Trump hosted a premiere of the film at the Kennedy Centerwith attendees including Cabinet members and members of Congress. There, Ratner downplayed its box-office potential, noting: “You can’t expect a documentary to play in theaters.”
The No. 1 movie of the weekend was Sam Raimi’s “Send Help,” a critically acclaimed survival thriller starring Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien. The Walt Disney Co. release debuted with $20 million. The film, with a $40 million budget, was an in-between kind of release for Raimi, whose hits have typically ranged from low-budget cult (“Army of Darkness”) to big-budget blockbuster (2002’s “Spider-Man”).
The microbudget sci-fi horror film “Iron Lung,” directed by YouTuber and filmmaker Markiplier, came in second with $17.9 million, far exceeding expectations. The Jason Statham action thriller “Shelter” debuted with $5.5 million.
But most of the curiosity was on how “Melania” would perform. A week earlier, the White House hosted a black-tie preview attended by Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy, Apple chief executive Tim Cook and former boxer Mike Tyson.

The audience waits in a movie theater for the start of the screening of a documentary about Melania Trump in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
The audience waits in a movie theater for the start of the screening of a documentary about Melania Trump in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
The film arrived in a week dominated by coverage of federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
“Melania” didn’t screen in advance for critics, but reviews that rolled out Friday, once the film was in theaters, weren’t good. Xan Brooks of The Guardian compared the film to a “medieval tribute to placate the greedy king on his throne.” Owen Gleiberman of Variety called it a “cheese ball informercial of staggering inertia.” Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “To say that ‘Melania’ is a hagiography would be an insult to hagiographies.”
But among those who bought tickets over the weekend, the response was far more positive. “Melania” landed an “A” CinemaScore. Audiences were overwhelmingly 55 and older (72% of ticket buyers), female (72%) and white (75%). As expected, the movie played best in the South, with top states including Florida and Texas.
David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe called it “an excellent opening for a political documentary.”
“For any other film, with $75 million in costs and limited foreign potential, it would be a problem,” said Gross. “But this is a political investment, not a for-profit movie venture, and if it helps Amazon with a regulatory, taxation, tariff or other government issue, then it will pay back. $75 million is insignificant to Amazon.”
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the premiere of her movie “Melania” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the premiere of her movie “Melania” at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“Melania” is Ratner’s first film since he was accused of sexual misconduct in 2017. Multiple women, including the actor Olivia Munn, accused Ratner of sexual harassment and misconduct. Ratner has denied the allegations. Last fall, after Trump’s reported intervention, Paramount Pictures said it would distribute his “Rush Hour 4.”
“Melania,” which will stream on Prime Video following its theatrical run, was released globally. Shortly before its debut, South African distributor Filmfinity said it would no longer release it. The company said it changed course “based on recent developments.”
International ticket sales for “Melania” were expected to be minuscule.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. “Send Help,” $20 million.
2. “Iron Lung,” $17.9 million.
3. “Melania,” $7 million.
4. “Zootopia 2,” $5.8 million.
5. “Shelter,” $5.5 million.
6. “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” $5.5 million.
7. “Mercy,” $4.7 million.
8. “The Housemaid,” $3.5 million.
9. “Marty Supreme,” $2.9 million.
10. “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” $1.5 million.
The Dictatorship
‘ICE out’: Bad Bunny uses Grammy speech to speak out
As awards season progresses, celebrities continue to speak out against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — especially in Minneapolis. Though some stars have opted for a slight nod of resistance with pins that say “ICE out,” others have been more vocal in their stances.
Upon accepting the Grammy Award for Best Música Urbana Album on Sunday night, Bad Bunny got straight to the point.
“Before I say thanks to God, I’m going to say ICE out,” the Puerto Rican performer said as soon as he approached the podium with award in hand.
After a standing ovation and cheers from the crowd, he continued.
“We’re not savage, we’re not animals, we’re not aliens. We are humans and we are Americans.”
This is not the first time the artist has spoken out against the Trump administration’s rhetoric against immigrants in the United States. Last year, he announced he would no longer tour in the U.S., which drew criticism from some right-wing commentators.
Despite that pushback, Bad Bunny scored the headlining spot at this year’s Super Bowl and said he decided to “do just one date in the United States.”
The album Bad Bunny accepted the award for, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” also won Album of the Year, becoming the first primarily Spanish-language album to win the distinction in the ceremony’s 68-year history.
Kathleen Creedon is a platforms editor for MS NOW. She previously worked as a web producer for Vanity Fair.
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