‘Honor the fallen, remember the families:’ The six-state bike ride for a good cause

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — “Honor the fallen, remember the families:” that’s the motto of Law Enforcement United, a national charity with a goal to raise awareness and funds for those fallen in the line of duty and the families left behind. Now, they’re biking all the way from Miami to Washington D.C. in honor of that mission.

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“A lot of those families wake up on a Monday morning and everything is as it was on Friday evening and then all of a sudden on Monday evening, it’s no longer the same,” explained Chris Potter, one of the members and cyclists for Law Enforcement United. “And we’d just like to remind them that we’ll never forget the sacrifice that their loved one made for all of us.”

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Now, the group is doing just that with a six-state-long bike ride from Miami to Washington D.C., featuring stops at sheriff’s offices throughout the entire journey. On Thursday, the group received a warm welcome at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, while also making a stop in Duval County, before rolling into Nassau County on Friday with a Nassau County Sheriff’s Office escort.

“It’s very impressive … it’s an honor to do that and recognize those that died in the line of duty,” Sheriff Bill Leeper with the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office told Action News Jax on Friday. “You never know when you leave home that morning or afternoon if you’re coming back. And some of these did not.”

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The LEU organization of officers, “and survivors of the badge” gather from offices and stations around the country to ride together this week. Hundreds of officers joined this week with the goal to raise a minimum of $1,750 each. This money goes to the Concerns of Police Survivors to run a summer camp for the children of fallen officers.

Now, the LEU has roughly 700 miles ahead of them on their journey, honoring those who have fallen and those left behind one pedal at a time.

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