New posters depicting the so-called “sandwich guy” hitting Trump administration officials in the head with hoagies have cropped up in Washington, D.C., the latest symbol of protest against the president’s crime crackdown in the nation’s capital.
After Trump declared a “crime emergency” in the city, a video captured government employee Sean Dunn allegedly throwing a sandwich at a group of federal law enforcement officers. The video went viral on social media, and his likeness subsequently has been styled as a symbol of resistance to Trump’s federal takeover.
Black-and-white Banksy-style silhouettes of a masked Dunn, winding up to throw a multi-colored sub-style sandwich, started appearing across the city last month.
Now, new posters have been added, illustrating the trajectory of the hoagie throw, which end with the sandwiches smacking Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller in the face. Lettuce spills out of the sandwich and flops over the heads of Hegseth and Miller in the latest street art offerings.
The posters of the administration officials appeared in the city’s Shaw neighborhood this week.
The original posters are an homage to Banksy’s mural, “Love Is In The Air”, also known as “The Flower Thrower”. It shows a young man wearing a bandana across his face, poised as if to throw a grenade but instead he holds a bouquet of flowers in his hand. The Banksy original has been construed as an image of resistance, peace and hope. The D.C. renditions use a sandwich in lieu of the bouquet.
Dunn, a former Department of Justice employee, was arrested on August 14 and charged with a felony count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and employees of the United States. However, in a rare move, prosecutors failed to obtain an indictment against him and he was released. He has since been charged him with a misdemeanor violation.
Prosecutors accused Dunn of pointing his finger at a Customs and Border Protection agent and yelling: “F*** you! You f***ing fascists! Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!”
Dunn then crossed the street, continuing to yell obscenities, before coming back. He was then seen “winding his arm back and forcefully throwing a sub-style sandwich” at the agent, according to court records.
Despite violent crime hitting a 30-year low in the nation’s capital, Trump declared a “crime emergency” on August 11, federalizing the local police and deploying the National Guard.
In a Washington Post-Schar School poll conducted last month, 79 percent of DC residents said they oppose Trump’s decision to deploy National Guard members and allow the federal government to take control of the city’s police department.
While 31 percent of poll respondents consider crime to be a serious problem in the city, many don’t think the administration’s tactics will be effective in curbing it. Some 65 percent of those polled said they don’t believe the president’s actions will reduce violent crime in D.C.
On Monday, President Trump declared the city a a “crime free zone” in a Truth Social post. But crime statistics from the Metropolitan Police Department show 442 crimes reported in the district over the past seven days.
“Instead of writing about posters put up by some liberal activist, The Independent should cover the tremendous drop in crime in DC thanks to President Trump’s intervention – but Fake News will be Fake News!” Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, told The Independent, when asked about the new posters.
