Sandwich arrest reveals lawless Justice Department

It’s one thing to hear about political radicals clashing with federal officers in the streets. It’s another thing entirely when one of those radicals is a Department of Justice employee.

On August 10, in Washington, DC, 37-year-old Sean Charles Dunn – then working in the DoJ’s Criminal Division – hurled a Subway sandwich at a federal law enforcement officer during President Trump’s controversial federal crime crackdown in the city. It wasn’t a case of mistaken identity. Video shows Dunn yelling profanity-laced insults – “f– you! … I don’t want you in my city!”– before throwing the sandwich and running. When caught, Dunn admitted it outright: “I did it. I threw a sandwich.”

The aftermath was swift. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced his immediate firing. US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro filed felony charges for assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer. Bondi didn’t mince words: “If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you. Not only is he fired, he’s been charged with a felony.”

Here’s the part that should make every law-abiding American pause: this wasn’t just a rowdy college protester or a fringe activist. This was someone who worked inside the very department tasked with upholding the rule of law.

When you sign on to serve in law enforcement – or even in its administrative ranks – you are pledging to respect the work of officers, even when you don’t like the political decisions guiding them. That doesn’t mean blind loyalty. It does mean you understand that the men and women in uniform are not your personal punching bags for political grievances.

What’s most alarming is that Dunn’s outburst wasn’t just a lapse in judgment – it was a glimpse into how normalized political violence has become in certain quarters of the left. The progressive defense of “punch a Nazi” rhetoric, the romanticizing of “direct action,” the social media clout economy that rewards confrontation – all of it has made some people genuinely believe that expressing dissent through physical aggression is noble.

It’s not.

There are plenty of valid criticisms of Trump’s DC crackdown. You can argue, as many conservatives have, that deploying federal agents in local jurisdictions without consent is a serious violation of states’ rights and local governance. You can oppose the policy without ever laying a hand – or a sandwich – on the officers tasked with carrying it out. Those officers didn’t set the policy. They are doing their jobs.

The problem here isn’t just Dunn’s personal anger – it’s the set of political values that make him think assault is a legitimate response to disagreement. When you believe that your cause is so righteous that the rules don’t apply to you, you’ve already abandoned the principles of a free society.

Political violence doesn’t have to involve Molotov cocktails or deadly weapons. It can be a brick through a campaign office window, an activist spitting on a political opponent, or yes—a sandwich thrown at a federal agent. It’s all the same root: contempt for lawful, peaceful disagreement.

The left loves to paint conservatives as the real threat to political stability – January 6, they remind us, is proof that right-wing political violence is the danger of our time. But you won’t hear them talk about their own side’s flirtations with it. From Antifa riots to congressional Democrats refusing to condemn attacks on pro-life centers, the double standard is glaring.

If Dunn’s victim had been a progressive protester and Dunn a MAGA-hat-wearing Trump appointee, the media would be calling this an act of fascist intimidation. Instead, it’s treated as an oddball “sandwich story” with a bit of late-night comedy potential.

But there’s nothing funny about it. It’s a reminder that the institutions we’re supposed to trust to uphold the law are not immune from harboring people who openly disrespect it. It’s a reminder that political tribalism can eat away at basic civic decency. And it’s a reminder that, increasingly, the left’s answer to disagreement isn’t persuasion – it’s escalation.

Conservatives should be consistent here. We can criticize federal overreach while still defending the dignity of the people carrying out lawful orders. We can condemn both January 6 rioters and DoJ sandwich-throwers without hypocrisy, because our standard isn’t “my side, right or wrong.” It’s the rule of law.

Dunn’s case will move through the courts. His career in government is over. But the deeper issue – an emerging culture where some Americans think they have moral permission to attack those they disagree with – is far from resolved.

We have to start calling it out, no matter which political jersey the offender wears. Because if you’re willing to assault “the other side” today, you’re one step away from justifying something far worse tomorrow.

It’s OK not to agree with what’s going on in your city. It’s OK to protest, to organize, to speak your mind. That’s America. But when you cross the line into physical confrontation, you’re not defending democracy – you’re corroding it. And if you work for the Department of Justice, you should know that better than anyone.