A confrontation on Washington, D.C.s U Street, a corridor celebrated for Black culture and LGBTQ-friendly nightlife, turned into a viral moment of resistance when a man in a pink button-down shirt and khaki shorts hurled a wrapped Subway sandwich at a federal law enforcement officer deployed under President Donald Trumps authoritarian takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department.The incident happened Sunday evening and began when the man, who appeared to have just purchased a footlong sandwich, walked out and past a group of armed, tactical vestwearing federal Border Patrol and FBI officers who were standing at a street corner. Video shows him becoming increasingly upset as he took in the scene. At one point, he started walking away, but then returned and was seen asking bystanders what vehicles the officers had arrived in.After walking toward several unmarked white government cars, another video clip shows him crossing back over the street and approaching the officers, at whom he yelled fascists and shame! Finally, he wound up and hurled the sandwich directly at one officer, striking him in the chest, before immediately sprinting across the street to escape, with a group of officers chasing him down the block. (@) A photographer captured images of federal agents surrounding him after the pursuit. The Advocate contacted the office of U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro for comment, but did not immediately hear back. As of Wednesday, officials had not identified the man or announced charges, but the image, a wrapped sub arcing toward a flak vest under the rainbow-lit streets, has already become a shorthand for local defiance in a city where federal authority is both a constitutional fact and, critics say, an increasingly dangerous political weapon. FBI and Border Patrol officers arrest a man along the U Street corridor during a federal law enforcement deployment to the nation's capital on August 10, 2025 in Washington, DC.Andrew Leyden/Getty ImagesThe next morning, Trump escalated the federal presence further. Flanked by Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, he invoked Section 740 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act to seize control of the citys police force for 30 days and deploy National Guard troops on D.C. streets. It was a move condemned by Democratic leaders, civil rights advocates, and human rights groups as authoritarian.Trump defended the action as a response to violent crime, falsely calling D.C. one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the World, and boasted that officers confronting protesters were allowed to do whatever the hell they want. Data from the Justice Department and Metropolitan Police Department shows violent crime dropped 35 percent in 2024 and another 26 percent so far in 2025, the lowest rate in three decades.Mayor Muriel Bowser has navigated a delicate political and legal position. While she described Trumps maneuvers as an authoritarian push in a meeting with community leaders, she has also signaled cooperation to manage the surge of federal personnel, NBC News reports. What Im focused on is the federal surge and how to make the most of the additional officer support that we have, Bowser told reporters after meeting with Bondi on Tuesday.For marginalized people, the stakes are exceptionally high in a city where nearly 15 percent of adults identify as LGBTQ+. U.S. Census estimates show that Black or African American and white adults each make up about 45 percent of the population in D.C., and Hispanic or Latinx adults account for roughly 12 percent.