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Though some call it a sub, others call it a hoagie or a grinder. But after Sean Charles Dunn was filmed throwing a foot-long sandwich at a federal law enforcement agent on Aug. 11 in D.C., he became known as “the sandwich guy.”
Now, artwork depicting his likeness has covered the District of Columbia.
Since the incident, Dunn was arrested on an assault charge, the video went viral, he was fired from his job at the Justice Department and prosecutors failed to indict the Air Force veteran for hitting the Customs and Border Protection agent in the chest with the sandwich.
He’s also become the face of D.C.’s resistance to the law enforcement surge implemented by President Donald Trump’s administration.
In homage to graffiti artist Banksy’s “Flower Thrower,” images of Dunn throwing the sandwich started popping up on buildings around the District and T-shirts worn by Washingtonians.
Speaking to some D.C. residents in front of “the sandwich thrower” image on Columbia Road in Adams Morgan, WTOP tried to find out why so many have thrown their support behind Dunn.
“I think it’s more of like a folk hero thing,’’ Connor told WTOP. “He’s just sort of a symbol for the emotion that everybody is feeling, watching people get abducted off the streets and mistreated and manhandled.”
Another D.C. resident, John, was not sure if the image is the face of resistance, but rather just an embodiment for the pent up feelings many in the District have had for a long time.
“Not being a state and not having representation here, it feels like we are powerless against literally anything anyone wants to do to us and against us,” John said.
A native North Carolinian was more blunt in her description of D.C.’s infatuation with “the sandwich guy.”
“We’re highlighting the ridiculousness of it,” Betsy Jordan said.
She said Dunn being charged for a felony for throwing a sandwich was extreme.
“Just like frogs in a pile of hot water, they get used to it so they don’t jump out. We are getting used to things being normalized,” Jordan said.
The sandwich throw heard around the world
Someone who has really delved into the artistic expression of resistance is Lorraine, a former D.C. resident who now lives in Virginia and creates T-shirts, tote bags and enamel pins inspired by Dunn on her Etsy account, RainyMorningPrints.
Each item has D.C.’s flag on the front with the two red stripes replaced by a sub sandwich.
“It really did start off as like a joke in passing. I do, otherwise, very nonpolitical linoleum prints as a hobby, just as like a creative outlet,” Lorraine told WTOP.
With everything going on, Lorraine said she had people in her life who were worried, and she was trying to make someone chuckle.
“People started reaching out about, you know, wanting to buy the print, wanting, like, some form of this to purchase,” she said.
At first, Lorraine admitted feeling uncomfortable for not only not being a professional artist, but also for Dunn’s situation.
“The man who threw the sandwich was potentially facing prison time, and it didn’t feel right to me to try and make a quick buck off of that,” Lorraine said.
Now, thanks to the 600 items that Lorraine has sold over the last two weeks, she has donated $12,000 to local charities, including the Capital Area Food Bank, Thrive DC and Miriam’s Kitchen.
“Maybe this will help out these organizations in a time when their services are really sorely needed, probably more than usual,” Lorraine said.
WTOP asked Lorraine if she had a message for Dunn.
“Thank you for inspiring this community movement, whether you meant to or not when you first decided to do what you did that night. I think a lot of good has come out of it, just for the community, as we can see with this huge amount of donated money,” she said.
In a very ironic coincidence, while researching the history of the D.C. flag, Lorraine discovered it was designed in 1938 by graphic designer Charles Dunn — no known relation.
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