A man has been charged with felony assault for allegedly spitting on two South Carolina Army National Guard soldiers who were deployed to Washington, DC, as part of President Donald Trump’s anti-crime agenda in the nation’s capital.
An officer with Amtrak Police on Friday afternoon observed Scott Pichon riding up to the two National Guard soldiers on a scooter outside of DC’s Union Station, according to a statement of facts submitted to court by an FBI agent. Pichon allegedly made “a noise like he was coughing up mucus” and then he “spit a mixture of saliva and mucus,” which landed on one soldier’s face and the other’s neck, the court documents said.
On Tuesday, a deputy US marshal arrested Pichon – who has been licensed to practice law in Maryland since 2019, according to state bar records – on a federal warrant.
A security camera captured the alleged assault on the soldiers, the court documents showed.
An attorney was not listed for Pichon in court records as of Tuesday evening.
The charge comes as Trump has escalated his crackdown on crime in Washington, DC, which began earlier this month when he took control of the city’s police department and deployed the DC National Guard.
Since then, South Carolina and five other GOP-led states have activated their National Guard troops to assist federal law enforcement in the nation’s capital. Last week, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered troops to begin carrying weapons.
The president has repeatedly complained about rising crime in DC, but overall crime numbers are lower this year than in 2024.
Trump’s moves have been deeply unpopular among DC residents, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll released last week. Roughly 8 in 10 residents oppose Trump ordering the federal government to take control of the city’s police department as well as his deployment of the National Guard and FBI to patrol the city.
Earlier this month, another man, Sean Charles Dunn, was arrested and charged with a felony assault for allegedly throwing a sandwich at a US Customs and Border Protection officer. Dunn, who worked at the Justice Department and was fired after the incident, allegedly screamed at the officer, “I don’t want you in my city!”
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