Police officers at London Pride were reportedly told not to wear a badge commemorating officers killed in the line of duty because of concerns about its links to far-right groups in the US. While the Thin Blue Line badge has traditionally been used to show support for law enforcement, it has become politically charged in the US, where it has been used by counter-protesters at Black Lives Matter marches.
The ban of the badge at London Pride, reported in the Mail on Sunday, was condemned by the mother of police constable Andrew Harper who was killed in the line of duty in Berkshire in 2019. His mother, Debbie Adlam, told the newspaper that she considered the badge, which consists of a blue line stretched across a black background, to be a “universal memorial”.
“Since we lost Andrew, we have considered the Thin Blue Line image to be a universal memorial to the loss of these officers,” she said. She added: “It concerns me that there are those who want to take (the badge) away.
