Community members gathered for the second annual Back the Blue Rally at Harley Davidson Erie in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
The ride began at 11:00 a.m. outside the Harley Davidson located on West 12th Street, YourErie.com reported.
In 2020, the ride was organized to celebrate and highlight the work police officers do in protecting the surrounding community. Now, the event’s organizer hopes neighbors will continue to honor police in such a way.
“I’m really hoping that we make this a yearly thing and we can get a point across and start to get a little bit more in the way of involvement with police and the community,” Tom Nelson, President of Lake Erie Blue Knights, told reporters.
Photos showed attendees preparing for the event and a large group of bikers lined up beneath an American flag suspended between two firetruck ladders:
An online flyer advertised a law enforcement escort and prize drawings after the ride:
Additional video footage showed the bikers revving their engines before leaving the parking lot while first responders looked on and other participants waved:
“We shouldn’t be looking at defunding police, we should be looking at increasing their numbers to at least the federal guidelines,” Nelson told Erie News Now.
“The City of Erie is about 60 police officers short. If you wonder why things aren’t as safe as they used to be that’s probably the reason,” he said.
Far-left Democrats have continued the “Defund the Police” movement while the national party attempts to back away from the rhetoric because of the upcoming 2022 midterms, Breitbart News reported Monday.
Meanwhile, a recent Hill-HarrisX poll found more voters want to increase police numbers in their communities instead of decreasing them, according to Breitbart News.
Forty-four percent of registered voters who responded to the July 8-9 survey said they wanted more police and policing activity in their areas, the outlet said.