On January 9th, 2021, National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, citizens from Concord and surrounding cities gathered in preparation for a Back The Blue ride at the parking lot of Concord Mills. The event was created by local resident Lesia Moffitt, who wanted to show support for Law Enforcement, stating that both of her brother-in-laws were in fact police officers. At 11am that day, the crowd started to gather including non-profit organization Back The Blue NC, Inc., who was present to show their support, participate in the vehicle procession, and provide merchandise for sale in order to fundraise for the benefits of the three North Carolina officers lost in the line of duty December 2020. ((Deputy Allison of Nash County Sheriffs Office, Officer Herndon of Mount Holly Police Department, and Officer Shuping of Concord Police Department))
Participants arrived with their vehicles adorned with American flags, thin blue line flags, and messages of encouragement for our police officers. Cars, vans, jeeps, and motorcycles lined up ready to ride.
Before the vehicle procession started, several officers from Concord Police Department made an appearance and interacted with the quickly-growing crowd.
After a prayer and words of encouragement were shared with the group, the vehicle procession began at 1pm, leaving the Concord Mills parking lot and then proceeding to Hwy 85, to 485, and finally Hwy 74 before arriving at the final destination of the Monroe Police Department. Shortly after arriving at the Monroe Police Department, the participants were greeted by several on-duty officers including Patrol Lieutenant Bolen who delivered a speech to the crowd. He thanked everyone for coming out to show support for a profession that often sees the negative side of society and receives little thanks. It was refreshing for him and his partners to see citizens gathered to show their support. Friendly conversation was had, gifts were given to the officers and finally a fundraising raffle was hosted by Back The Blue NC.
Special thanks to The Urban Conservative for the video!