Goforth memorial growing; including visitors from around the country

The place where Harris County Deputy Darren Goforth was shot and killed continues to be the focal point for Houstonians to pay their respects, but now visitors are arriving from around the country.

“I'm amazed at the show of support from the community, from outside agencies, from Harris County, and from Houston,” said Sgt. Kevin Donnellan, with the New York Police Department. 

He arrived at the memorial with 4 other NYPD officers Thursday afternoon.

The murder  of Deputy Darren Goforth is very similar to the murder of  New York police officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos in December 2014. When that happened, the entire country helped them heal.

“We saw that in December when Officer Liu and Officer Ramos got ambushed an assassinated,” said NYPD’s Sgt Robert Zhen. “We saw the whole country flew in to show their support.”

That included officers from Houston.

“We did see a lot of officers from the Houston Area, from Texas from all over the world,” said NYPD Officer Evangelina Loukas.

Loukas says their 5-member contingent represents the Brotherhood of the Fallen, an organization of active-duty officers. Its purpose is to make sure law enforcement officers from around the country can stand together when an officer is killed in the line of duty.

“We just want to let other officers know, nationwide, that we're here to support one another, no matter where they live,” said Officer Julie Toll. “We are all one big family.”

The family of law enforcement may be shaken by the ambush murders and hateful rhetoric, but they stand with each other to send one clear message.             

“We are the line between chaos and order. Without order there would be chaos,” explains officer Nicholas Gianesses.  “ Call me and I'll come do my job. If you don't like me I'm still going to come do my job.”