Marysville officer's heartwarming gesture on Fourth of July draws praise

MARYSVILLE, Wash. -- Sometimes it's the small gestures that make the biggest impact.

A Marysville police officer was spotted on home surveillance camera helping replace a flag that was dragging on the ground. Now, the gesture is lighting up the internet.

In the video, a patrol officer is seen stopping his car on the Fourth of July and walking up to a flag attached to a home. The flag's attachment had broke, so the flag was partially dragging on the ground.



The United States Flag Code dictates that the flag should never touch anything beneath it.

In the video, the officer tries to place the flag back in its holder. But when that's not successful, he decides to roll the flag up and place it against the home rather than have it drag on the ground.

Homeowner Ben Rieman said he watched his surveillance camera when he found the flag rolled up. He said the officer deserved recognition for his good deed, and decided to share the video on a local community Facebook page.

Thousands of people on the Snohomish County Crime and Community Facebook group agreed with Rieman.

"God Bless this cop," Sharon Gillespie said.

Marysville Sgt. Pete Shove told Q13 News he's glad the video was posted, and he's happy patrol officers are getting recognition for good deeds.