The “Flag for Every Hero” event is slated for 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, beginning with a brief ceremony at the Veterans Memorial Amphitheater in the middle of the cemetery.

“Accomplishing this large feat takes a lot of participation by many people, doing many different things,” Brennan Leininger with nonprofit Honoring Our Fallen said. “Everyone’s involvement is critical to the success of accomplishing this task. The emotional experience that results from participating in this event is what it is all about.”

The flag walks, first organized in 2012, are conducted not only on Memorial Day weekend, but also on Veterans Day. Both were nixed in 2020 because of the COVID lockdowns but returned in 2021 with some restrictions, all of which have since been nullified.

Boy Scouts, police Explorers, Civil Air Patrol cadets, unions and other interested parties from throughout the Inland Empire take part in the walks, which have drawn upwards of 1,500 volunteers in the past.

When the events began in 2012, participants were able to reach only 21,000 graves. In 2014, organizers were able to procure enough flags and enlist a sufficient number of people to plant the Stars and Stripes next to just about all of the roughly 250,000 final resting places of those interred at the cemetery.

Since then, flags have been placed at every grave within about three hours, Leininger said.

The honorably discharged U.S. Air Force serviceman, now a police officer, visited the cemetery in 2011 and was dismayed by how few flags were flying, prompting him to start the placements, with the help of Garden Grove- based Honoring Our Fallen.

Eventually, Leininger’s group combined with Riverside resident Mary Ellen Gruendyke to ensure all graves receive a flag. Gruendyke had contributed money and time to the effort long before 2012.

The 900-acre national cemetery is the fourth-largest of its kind in the nation — and running out of space.

Additional information is available at www.honoringourfallen.org.

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The altercation happened at a parking lot of a supermarket near Stetson Avenue and State Street Monday, according to a witness.

The footage begins with the officer face-to-face with the young man, who was wearing a backpack. The witness said the man, identified by police as 19-year-old Edmund Franklin, was selling candy and sold her chocolate outside a grocery store. He was then approached by police.

In a press release provided to Eyewitness News early Tuesday morning, the Hemet Police Department said officers first approached Franklin around 3:30 p.m. after he was asked to leave by employees of a nearby business for “becoming aggressive” with them. Franklin was also said to be panhandling in the area.

Police said the man was told to leave and if he returned he would be arrested for trespassing. About 40 minutes later, police were called again and told Franklin had returned to the location and was refusing to leave.

“The first responding officer approached Mr. Franklin and attempted to detain him for a trespass violation when a use of force occurred,” Hemet police said in its press release.

Video shows Franklin tell the officer multiple times he’ll take his backpack off while the police officer is seen grabbing him.

“I’ll take it off,” Franklin said in the video.

The officer then punches him and a scuffle ensues. As the scuffle continues, the officer takes the man to the ground and subdues him for several minutes with multiple people looking on, the video showed.

Several of the witnesses’ shout angrily at the police officer to get off the man.

Multiple police officers then arrive to the scene as the witnesses become irater over the officer’s tactics.

Franklin was arrested on suspicion of trespassing, resisting an officer and attempting to disarm an officer, according to Hemet police. His bail was set at $10,000.

The police department said it’s aware of the video circulating on social media and launched an investigation. “We are reviewing the incident to include the social media posts and the Officer’s body worn camera video,” the police department said. “This incident, like any use of force incident involving a Hemet Police Officer is taken seriously and will be thoroughly investigated.”

Police ask anyone with information about the incident to contact Capt. Glen Brock via email at gbrock@hemetca.gov or by phone at (951) 765-2473.

ABC7 News | Contributed

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