Officer meets men who protected him during protests

Officer Galen Hinshaw of the Louisville Metro Police Department responded to a call of officers in trouble during a protest back in early June. After Officer Hinshaw arrived on scene he was surrounded and cornered by a group of angry protesters himself. Officer Hinshaw backed up against a wall to keep an eye on the angry crowd and radioed for help, USA Today reported in an article from June 6th. Officer Hinsaw’s closest backup was blocks away.

As the crowd grew angrier and moved in closer to Officer Hinshaw, he thought to himself, “Here we go. I’m prepared to be injured.” Suddenly a man emerged from the crowd and put himself between Officer Hinshaw and the angry crowd. Then another man stepped up and another. Ultimately five men stood up and linked arms together. The men stayed like that and kept the angry crowd back until backup units were able to arrive and rescue Officer Hinshaw from the crowd.

On Sunday, Officer Hinshaw got to meet with three of the men, Christopher Gales, Darrin Lee, and Julian Delacruz at a Back the Blue Rally in support of police officers. “I stood up in front of that officer because I saw a man at the end of the day. Behind all that gear,” Gales said in an interview with WHAS11. “We’re all human beings at the end of the day.”

Those guys stepped forward and recognized that I was in danger and formed a human chain and prevented me from getting injured. I’m thankful for them.”

Officer Galen Hinshaw

Darrin Lee said, “We formed a brotherhood that night.”

Thank you gentleman for being Officer Hinshaw’s hero.