DC protestors: Quit demonizing the National Guard
Sub sandwich thrower is no hero
Jeffrey Denny
First things first: Washington, DC, protestor Sean Charles Dunn didn’t throw a hoagie, grinder, or hero at a National Guardsman, as variously reported.
Dunn threw a sub. A submarine sandwich. From Subway. Specifically, a Subway BMT — “Biggest, Meatiest, Tastiest,” with pepperoni, salami, and ham — topped with banana peppers.
Now it’s the most noted fast food since former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle became a convicted sex offender.
Dunn, drunk, pitched his sub and a hissy over Trump’s own deranged tantrum in federalizing DC law enforcement and calling out the Guard. Trump loves to look alpha tough like McGruff the Crime Dog, only pretending to take a bite out of crime. Like Dunn took bites of his sub before hurling it at the Guardsman’s chest. As it bounced off and meats and peppers went flying, the officer and his mates laughed.
The Guardsmen also took it in stride when Dunn got in their faces, calling them “fascists” and shouting, “Why are you here? I don’t want you in my city!”
Despite being smart enough to work as an international affairs specialist in the Justice Department’s criminal division, Dunn didn’t seem to realize that DC is the DC National Guard’s city that it protects and serves. Worth noting is 60% of the DC Guard are people of color.
And the Guard probably doesn’t want to be doing this. They’re not trained to fight teen muggers and carjackers, and they’re not deployed where the crime hits hardest (and they might be more welcome). They know it’s for show.
But they don’t get paid enough to be extras in the Trump Authoritarian Theater. And then get shit on by fucks like Dunn. And then see him lionized by privileged elites whose notion of citizen duty isn’t public service like democracy demands, but wailing on Instagram about tyranny.
This NextDoor post by a local elected DC official reacting to Trump’s calling of the Guard says it all:
“It’s as if the president thinks it’s a good idea to reprise the Comet Pizza incident, only this time on a citywide scale and with 1,500 armed young men, instead of just one.”
Let’s unwrap this.
He’s referring to “Pizzagate” conspiracy-addled whack job Edgar Maddison Welch, who drove to DC from North Carolina to “investigate” Hillary Clinton’s nonexistent pedophile ring. He entered the pizza place (a personal fave, near my home) with an AR-15, and fired shots, endangering real kids.
The official is no Gen Z woke ninny who, poor dear, doesn’t know any better. He’s in his 70s and has two Ivy League degrees. He was a veteran national reporter and later a speechwriter for a top official, and is a visiting fellow at leading think tank.
He also wrote a book about what ails American families, especially the working poor. So even though he lives in a zip code with a $1.3 million median home price and $250,000 median household income — both three times the nation’s — he should understand that most military personnel come from middle-class and poor families and are dedicated, upstanding and admirable citizens.
Not to pick on him, but by comparing the National Guard to the Pizzagate guy, the official betrays a special hothouse ignorance — call it “othering” that progressives are so sensitive about — that often plagues Democrats who believe themselves to be the most informed and enlightened.
That is, the Guard — or any women and men in uniform — aren’t the bad guys here. They’re not trigger-happy skinhead MAGA militia militants trained and aching to fight and kill, as they’re too often painted.
Quite the opposite: They’re trained not to hurt anyone. They don’t want to hurt anyone. If they need to, it’s in self-defense or protecting others from harm. And like normal humans — which they are — they may suffer emotionally even while completely innocent. Yes, if you prick them, they bleed.
What the Guard does mostly is save people’s lives, responding to natural disasters, like they did after the devastating Kerrville, Texas, floods. They also deploy overseas to aid desperate refugees. All for little money — around $17 an hour, ZipRecruiter says, what an Amazon warehouse worker makes.
It makes sad sense that Americans today are disconnected from our people in military uniform who serve and protect us, since only 1% of the population do.
Which is also a good thing; it means we’re at relative peace.
So it’s beyond troubling that Trump and his Republican ilk use and abuse the troops as swords and shields to succor and sucker MAGA chicken hawks, smear Democrats, and push cockamamie defense spending while also defunding veterans.
But it’s also irksome when Democrats, especially on the left, misunderstand, make ugly assumptions, and disrespect their fellow Americans enough to make Sean Charles Dunn a folk hero. He’s more like a joke zero. He tossed Trump and Bondi a meaty treat on a fresh-baked roll.
Protesters: That Guardswoman or man you scream at, spit on, denigrate and dehumanize is doing more for our country and communities than chanting resistance slogans. On other days, they may be rescuing children from rising floodwaters.
Jeffrey Denny is a Washington writer.
