Thin Blue Line Event In Harford County Planned For This Weekend

ABINGDON, MD — Community members will be able to pick up free thin blue line flags this weekend in Abingdon. The Harford County Deputy Sheriff's Union and two local business owners are giving away the items at the Boulevard at Box Hill in a show of support for law enforcement.

"It precipitated from the actions of the Montgomery County executive," Harford County Sheriff Foundation President Walter "Butch" Tilley told Patch.

After a boy gave officers a homemade thin blue line flag Oct. 28 for National First Responders Day, Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich barred its display at their Germantown police station.

Related:

• Elrich Stands By 'Thin Blue Line' Flag Call, Slams Hogan
• Hogan Slams Elrich For Banning 'Thin Blue Line' Flag Display

"There are lots of groups in the community — people concerned about Black Lives Matter, people concerned about the levels of violence against black people in this country — who take the Blue Lives Matter flag as an affront and as a flag that represents dismissiveness of Black Lives Matter and their concern over what's happening to black males in this country," Elrich said.

In the wake of those comments, Tilley said that he and others in Harford County intended to make it clear they disagreed.

"As business owners in Harford County, we wanted to show our support for the men and women in blue and let them know that the actions in Montgomery County certainly don't reflect how we feel and how most Marylanders feel," Tilley said.

Tilley, who owns York Insurance Services on Rock Spring Road in Forest Hill, partnered with Harford County Councilman Tony Giangiordano, who owns AAG Insurance on South Main Street in Bel Air, to buy 1,000 thin blue line flags that they will give away during the "Free Thin Blue Line Flag" event in Abingdon.

"Tony and I purchased the flags together," said Tilley, who noted they are competitors but also friends. Partnering in the thin blue line flag giveaway demonstrated unity, he said, and will "show we as a community could come together [despite] our differences."

They will be giving away Thin Blue Line flags from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Saturday in the Boulevard at Box Hill shopping center in Abingdon. Volunteers from the Harford County Citizens Police Academy and Harford County Deputy Sheriff's Union will be on hand to give out the flags, which will be available until 11 a.m. or when they run out.