It has been three weeks since police officers were ambushed in downtown Dallas, killing five officers, but the outpouring of support for law enforcement has not let up.
"With all the negativity and all the hatred that's going on, one thing that always kills that is love. It's about 97 degrees out here, it may rain. That's love, Dallas love," said Officer Michael Lee, as he stood in front of sea of people who came out to race in the Run for the Blue.
Nearly 5,000 people participated in the race along the Ron Kirk Pedestrian Bridge in Dallas. Proceeds will benefit the families of the fallen officers and the seven officers injured in the shooting on July 7.
"This means a lot to us," said Officer Jorge Barrientos, his hand still bandaged from being hit during the ambush. "You can't do this job without the support of the community. You can't do this job without faith in your community. You can't do this without the faith from them in you."
In just three weeks the Dallas chapter of the National Latino Law Enforcement Organization partnered with several corporate sponsors to organize a race that should have taken months to plan.
Sgt. George Aranda, president of the National Latino Law Enforcement Organization, which organized the event, said this is one of the first steps for officers to move on from the shooting while still honoring those who died.
"Eventually we have to come back home, come back to reality. This is a step right here," Aranda said. "There's amazing support from everybody. Everybody loves their police officers, but the message we're sending out, and hope we're getting, is don't forget about us. We're still going to be here."
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In addition to the race, restaurants in the Trinity Groves district donated half of their sales from Thursday night. Organizers said the total amount of money raised will surpass six figures.
