It's a Felony

 IT'S A FELONY

And you are darn right!  It should be!  Throwing a sandwich at an ICE officer and hitting him in the chest with it certainly should be a felony.  It shows total disrespect for an officer of the United States employed in capturing, detaining, and removing undesirables from mainland America.  Being disrespectful should be a felony, don't you think?  What are we coming to throwing sandwiches at a uniformed employee of the federal government?

Now you may think I'm over reacting.  Not at all.  Living in a country where this sort of behavior is thought proper or necessary is untenable.  ICE has an important function as do all law enforcement branches of the government.  Our legislatures have made sure of this with practically uncountable new crimes and punishments for those who don't show the proper respect for people in uniform of one kind or another.  We have  consequences here in the USA.

The question is, of course, how do we discourage this sort of behavior in particular.  We have learned through years of experience that by simply putting someone in jail doesn't really have the consequences that we had hoped for.  Many of those thrown in jail feel they shouldn't be there and have been done wrong and consequently there is a substantial recidivism and we need to avoid that if possible.  New suggestions need to be made.

How about requiring an offender to salute someone in uniform whenever they come in contact with one.  Saluting is and always has been a sign of respect.   After all you are saluting the uniform not necessarily the person in it and it is appropriate to do so since the people in that uniform are present for our protection after all.  Sometimes you may wonder what exactly they are protecting us from but that is another issue altogether.

I am putting forth  but one suggestion.  You, the reader, may have others.  Bowing is always a possibility although this form of salutation has long been unused here in  America.  Or, we could simply have a simple misdemeanor introduced and passed by congress or the state legislatures making it a ticketable offence that if one were within a certain distance of a person in uniform that one must show some sort of outward respect toward that person which obviously would not include throwing a sandwich at the chest of that person in uniform with which you have come in contact.

The new crime would have to be clearly enunciated and defined as to what specific behavior the person in the presence of a uniformed must show and this might not be easy but necessary all the same if it is to be enforced uniformly.  So, in conclusion, we must all give this some thought and especially conduct ourselves in an appropriate manner when in the vicinity of a person in uniform; and, if we do so, maybe legislation would be unnecessary.

Richard E H Phelps II

Mingo