‘I don’t know 99 percent of the people here, but ... I’d go to war for them’

The Colorado deputy sheriff says he nearly chokes up when he talks about fallen police officers like Garrett Hull, the Fort Worth cop who was killed in the line of duty on Sept. 14.

“I don’t know 99 percent of the people here,” said Deputy Felix Claudio of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office in Castle Rock, Colorado. “But I would stand next to them, I would go to war for them. And I’d hold their hands when they needed it. I’d give them a hug.”

Twenty officers from chapters of Brotherhood for the Fallen, a support group for police killed in the line of duty, came to Fort Worth on Friday from New York City, Chicago, Colorado and elsewhere for Hull’s funeral.

The group has chapters in the New York Police Department; Suffolk County, New York; Aurora, Colorado and Boston, as well as Dallas and Fort Worth.

“We want to make sure that the families know that we’re grieving with them for the loss of a brother officer,” said Officer Meghan Walsh, vice president of the Boston chapter.

“We want them to know that we’re supporting them, and do everything we can to show them that we know what they’re going through and we’re here to help them get through this difficult time,” she said.

Walsh said that early in her career, she attended the funerals of two fallen New York City police officers, and that inspired her and her colleagues to start their own chapter of the Brotherhood.

She said it certainly feels like police officer deaths are on the rise in the United States.

“We had three this week that we sent officers from Boston to,” she said. “It just seems like every day there’s something.”

“When these things happen, it takes a piece of all of us,” said Claudio, who lost a fellow officer, Zackari Parrish III, on New Year’s Eve.

According to the Brotherhood, three more police officers have been killed on duty in the United States since Hull’s death:

▪ While trying to stop traffic at an intersection, Frank McClelland, chief of the Ludowici Police Department in Georgia, was struck and killed by a vehicle being pursued by officers on Sept. 15.

▪ Investigating a suspicious person call, Deputy Sheriff Robert Kunze of the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office in Kansas was shot and killed on Sept. 16.

▪ While responding to a disturbance call, Deputy Sheriff Mark Stasyuk of the Sacremento County Sheriff’s Department in California was shot and killed on Sept. 17.

Walsh and Claudio said part of the Brotherhood’s mission is to remind the public that behind a cop’s uniform is a human being.

“We want to educate people but we also want people to know that we’re real people as well,” Walsh said.

“It seems people forget who we are under these uniforms,” Claudio said. “We’re fathers, brothers, sons, sisters, daughters.”

Like Claudio, Walsh said she hopes she and her fellow Brotherhood members can help people who are mourning Hull.

“We are here with you, we’re grieving with you, and anything you guys need from us, please don’t hesitate to reach out,” Walsh said.

This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 12:34 PM with the headline "‘I don’t know 99 percent of the people here, but ... I’d go to war for them’."