Great story here. Lots of morality. Unity of races, good people responding, respect of police. It also shows the difference between protesters and rioters since the media doesn’t seem to differentiate.

According to the story by USAToday, Officer Galen Hinshaw found himself alone and in a threatening position, surrounded by a rioting mob after he heard the call over the radio. One of his fellow officers was in trouble.

Hinshaw didn’t know what to do as the crowd was yelling at him and clenching their fists, but that’s when six men stepped up to protect him.

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[USAToday] A crowd of protesters had surrounded a police cruiser at the base of the Clark Memorial Bridge. The officer inside radioed for help as protesters — strobed in blue and red patrol car lights — banged on the car’s hood and windshield.

Hinshaw, a Fourth Division patrol officer and part of Louisville Metro Police Department’s Special Response Team, drove as close as he could to the scene. As he got out of his cruiser, he was immediately surrounded by protesters.

Ultimately, five men formed a human shield to protect Hinshaw. All of them strangers to one another. Nobody knew the name of the man to his left or to his right. Three were black, one white, one Dominican — all linking arms to keep harm away from Hinshaw, himself half-Pakistani.

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I understand the fear that Hinshaw felt. To those courageous five strangers who stepped forward to protect another human being is what we all should be about. Acts like this are one step to healing these ills. We can only heal, I believe, not by legislation, but by people meeting people-one step at a time.

This story shows that inside all of us is a set of morals and ethics, often they are hidden to protect the person, but it doesn’t mean they’re not there. Strength comes from doing what’s right, even if the consequences are bad.

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“A human was in trouble, and right is right,” said Ricky McClellan, a factory worker from Old Louisville who was locked onto Lee’s left arm.

After reaching the bridge and watching some protesters throwing rocks at police cars, McClellan spotted Hinshaw as he walked around the group and thought, “Whoa, you’re by yourself?”

McClellan watched as the crowd around Hinshaw grew larger and louder. Then he heard Lee yell, “Lock arms! Lock arms!”

That’s when Julian De La Cruz saw the men locking arms and jumped in.

“In the end, that’s all that we are asking for,” said De La Cruz, whose uncle is a police officer. “What we need is for those great cops to hold their brothers and sisters accountable at all times.”

This is all that is needed, accountability from the police; they are blanket protected from pretty much everything they do. The thought that those who are meant to uphold the law are immune to many of those same laws is disturbing.

Unfortunately, the terrible views and decisions of the few bad apples on both sides of the equation always garner the most attention. And then, remarkably, unfortunately, the rest of those folks on both sides, the good apples, are left to pay the price by being lumped in with the bad. We have hope because we know that the majority of those on both sides are there to keep the peace, ensure the safety of the public, make their voices heard by doing their jobs, and call out the real injustices that exist in our America.

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I wish one of those other cops had stepped up and done the hard things (it’s a personal decision, and no one can’t tell what they would do until they’re in that situation, so I hold no judgment). Still, it may have saved the country from this horrendous uprising of negativity, quite rightly aimed at injustice, but now so focused on all the surrounding negative actions happening.

These are the stories we need to hear more about. Citizens protecting and helping police, police protecting, and helping citizens. This happens more often than you think because most News follows the “If it bleeds, it leads” headline-grabbing stories instead of ones showing our common humanity.

I hope we can all learn; it just takes a little effort to recognize someone else as your friend, not always as an enemy.
 

This piece was written by Wayne Dupree on June 6, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com and is used by permission.

The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Steve Gruber.