Sheriff: 'Thin blue line' flag was raised outside Hamilton County Justice Center
CINCINNATI — Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies hoisted a “thin blue line” flag Sunday outside the Hamilton County Justice Center, replacing a United States flag that Sheriff Jim Neil said had been stolen by protesters.
In a tweet posted hours after the photo went viral on Twitter and Reddit, Neil wrote that deputies raised the flag in honor of a Cincinnati police officer whose ballistic helmet had been struck by a bullet early Sunday morning.
“The flag has been removed and we will replace it with the American Flag in the morning,” he wrote.
“Should have been replaced with American flag immediately,” fellow Democrat Chris Seelbach tweeted back. “Not replaced with a politically charged blue lives matter flag when thousands are protesting in our streets because #BlackLivesMatter. Sheriff Neil has only made things worse. Again.”
The “thin blue line” is an idiom used by many law enforcement organizations, their families and their supporters, who describe officers as the “thin blue line” separating society from chaos. The flag flown in Cincinnati Sunday — a black-and-white American flag with one blue stripe — is a pro-police symbol that frequently decorates bumper stickers, mugs, and T-shirts.
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