Hundreds Back Blue At Rally In Support Of Police In Manassas

MANASSAS, VA — Hundreds of people marched in the streets of Manassas Saturday afternoon to show their support for law enforcement officers as police departments across the country come under unprecedented scrutiny in the wake of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Participants in the event, sponsored by the organization We Back Blue, gathered at Nelson Park and then marched down Grant Avenue to the Old Manassas Courthouse holding signs that read "We Support Our Law Enforcement," "No Police, No Peace," and "Law & Order."

One marcher from Manassas told Patch that supporters of the police can no longer let their voices get drowned out by people protesting against the police. In response to activists and politicians issuing calls to "defund the police," Mary Faulk said she wants to know what these people will do if someone breaks into their house and they need to call someone for help.

"Who in their right mind would even think that's a good idea, period," she said. "Maybe the police need special training. Maybe they need to investigate the people they're hiring. But it's not an easy job."

Mark Harman, president of the Battlefield Lodge #43 of the Fraternal Order of Police, said in a speech at the rally that police are unfairly getting painted with a broad brush in response to George Floyd's death and other cases where Black Americans have been killed by police.

"What happened in Minnesota is not reflected in the law enforcement in this part of Virginia and in Virginia as a whole," said Harman, a retired police officer with the Prince William County Police Department. For protesters and politicians to portray police officers in Prince William County and across Virginia as bad people in response to what happens elsewhere in the country is "disgusting," he added.

Tim Fazenbaker, a conservative activist from Maryland who unsuccessfully ran in the June 2 Republican primary for Maryland's 2nd House district, told the crowd that the protests against police brutality are not related to how police treat African Americans. "It's a coordinated movement by communists and Marxists that are trying to overthrow our country," he said. "We will not let that happen."

Fazenbaker said families of police officers suffer not knowing if their loved one is going to come home at the end of the day. "The children fear and stress over the safety of their own families because of what they see in the press as well," he said. "It's a constant beatdown."

As police officers continue to resign and as people choose not to make law enforcement a career, "we must back our blue," Fazenbaker said.

Harman said police officers "just want to go out and try to make their corner of the world a little bit better than it was when they went into work that day."

"They're not doing it for the money, I can tell you that," he said. "They do it because they care about the people in the community that they serve."

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