I'm trying to shift thinking outside the emotionally charged perspective of the event.

I'm not the person that you're replying to but I'll give it a shot.

> I'm trying to shift thinking outside the emotionally charged perspective of the event.

The re-framing suggests there is no qualitative difference between an employee throwing a sandwich at a representative of a service provider hired by their employer and a protester throwing a sandwich at law enforcement. The differences seem obvious but I have to assume you believe there is none: if they are different, the question is not relevant. So why ask the question? Perhaps a more direct question could be why do you think the two scenarios are so comparable?