Tyler Henderson and Drew Torris were the organizers of Saturday’s Bakersfield’s Back the Blue cruise, but the attention the event drew came as a nice surprise.
“There's been so much negativity going on recently so we just wanted to show that we do support law enforcement. We wanted to come together as a community and just show them that we're here for them,” said Henderson.
“Driving around town with the caravan we had, I mean 150 plus vehicles. We had numerous people honking and waving and just showing support to us for showing support to the officers,” said Torris.
They said they had seen this type of event happening in other cities, but Torris says the timing of today's ride could not have been any better especially after hearing about local Taco Bell employees taunting a Bakersfield police officer.
“Law enforcement officers are out her to protect and serve. That right there to me is just disrespectful. I mean have respect for the officers, that's my main thing,” said Torris.
Henderson and Torris also said being able to include members of BPD, KCSO and CHP at the end of the cruise was something that made this event different from the others.
“I'm sitting here watching all the vehicles roll in and all the cars roll in and all the flags roll in, it was very impressive,” said Deputy Sheriff Juan Bravo.
Saying it's moments like these that remind him why he chooses to put his life on the line every day.
“Whether it's in Kern County or Baton Rouge or Dallas. We stiffen our backs, we put our uniform back on and we move forward. But yes it really does help us with this type of encouragement to make it home at night,” said Bravo.
