President Obama welcomed to the White House Saturday the winners of the TOP COPS award for law enforcement who have shown extraordinary bravery and valor in the line of duty.
The 2013 group named by the National Association of Police Organizations includes Lieutenant Brian Murphy, who was the first officer on the scene in response to the shooting at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin last year, and who attended the State of the Union speech in February as a guest of the First Lady.
“He fought back until help arrived and ordered his fellow officers, who are here today, to protect the safety of the Americans worshiping inside — even though he was lying there bleeding from 12 bullet wounds,” President Obama said. “When he was asked how he did it, he said, ‘That’s just the way we’re made.'”
In closing, the President spoke to the public, “I’d ask all Americans — everybody who is watching all across the country — when you see a police officer, let them know how much you appreciate it.”
(WATCH the ceremony below, READ full transcript at Whitehouse.gov)