In a time of such division, inspiring stories are difficult to find. The story behind the iconic photographs of Louisville Metro Police Department Officer Galen Hinshaw is one such story.

As reported by USA Today, “Officer Hinshaw found himself alone and in a threatening position, surrounded by a rioting mob after he heard the call over the radio: one of his fellow officers was in trouble. A crowd of protesters had surrounded a police cruiser at the base of the Clark Memorial Bridge. The officer inside radioed for help as protesters — strobed in blue and red patrol car lights — banged on the car’s hood and windshield.”

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A Fourth Division patrol officer and part of Louisville Metro Police Department’s Special Response Team, the 32- year-old officer proceeded to drive as close as possible to his fellow officers in need of help, USA Today reports. As Hinshaw exited his vehicle, he was surrounded immediately by hundreds of protesters. The officer was trapped. He realized he was severely outnumbered and overwhelmed while the angry crowd yelled profanities at him with clenched fists.

That’s when strangers stepped up to protect him. A man wearing a red University of Louisville mask emerged from the angry mob, putting himself between Officer Hinshaw and the hostile crowd. Immediately thereafter, local entrepreneur Darrin Lee, Jr. noticed Hinshaw and the growing mob and linked arms with the stranger in the red mask. The Courier Journal captured the moment in photographs that have since been shared across the country.

“Ultimately, five men formed a human shield to protect Hinshaw. All of them strangers to one another. Nobody knew the name of the man to his left or to his right. Three were black, one white, one Dominican — all linking arms to keep harm away from Hinshaw, himself half-Pakistani,” the USA Today story notes.

Ricky McClellan, a factory worker from Old Louisville who was locked onto Lee’s left arm, told USA Today, “A human was in trouble, and right is right.” McClellan watched as the crowd around Hinshaw grew larger and louder. He heard Lee yell, “Lock arms! Lock arms!” That’s when Julian De La Cruz saw the men locking arms and jumped in. “In the end, that’s all that we are asking for,” said De La Cruz, whose uncle is a police officer. “What we need is for those great cops to hold their brothers and sisters accountable at all times,” he told USA Today.

According to the USA Today story, Hinshaw has reached out to the men through social media and texts, but he says he is looking forward to thanking them in person. “Those guys, they saved me,” Hinshaw told USA Today. “There’s no doubt about it. And I am beyond thankful. If it wasn’t for them intervening and recognizing that I was in trouble and helping me, I am are that I would’ve been assaulted in one form or another. I’ve cried over that incident. It was a moment where strangers came together to help another stranger, and that stranger was me,” the officer told USA Today.

This is a great story. Lots of morality, unity among varying races, exercising of First Amendment rights, good people responding to quell a potentially dangerous situation, and respect of our law enforcement officers who are out there doing their jobs amidst these tense times. It also shows the difference between protesters and rioters, since the media doesn’t seem to differentiate.

These are the stories we need to hear more about. Citizens protecting and helping police. Police protecting and helping citizens. This happens more often than you think but we seldom see such stories, as the mainstream media tends to follow the “If it bleeds, it leads” stories as opposed to those showing our shared humanity. Perhaps we can all learn that it just takes a little effort to recognize someone else as your friend, not as your enemy. We are, after all, Americans.