Brian Browne stands in front of one of the many flags he collects at his home on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016 in Everett, Wa. Browne found the ground zero flag and turned it in to an Everett Fire Station in 2014. "I took care of it. It was never dishonored or flown or anything,” said Browne. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)
Brian Browne stands in front of one of the many flags he collects at his home on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016 in Everett, Wa. Browne found the ground zero flag and turned it in to an Everett Fire Station in 2014. “I took care of it. It was never dishonored or flown or anything,” said Browne. (Andy Bronson / The Herald)

 

Everett, WA – The man who turned in an American flag raised at ground zero on Sept. 11 to a Washington state courthouse has been identified.

The Daily Herald reports Brian Browne had seen the coverage of the flag’s return to New York this month and contacted authorities. In 2014 he had turned the flag, which disappeared from ground zero, into a fire station in Everett. The flag is now at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum.

Browne, a flag collector, spoke with Everett detectives this month. Browne said he got the flag in 2006 from a friend he believed got it from the wife of a former New York City employee.

Browne, in a statement released Tuesday, said “my motivation was to return what I thought was lost property” and he was happy that it was now in a museum.

As reported by Vos Iz Neias