IOWA CITY, Iowa -- A FedEx driver who broke up a flag burning protest in Iowa will keep his job, the company confirmed in a tweet on Saturday.
The flag burning protest happened on Thursday near the University of Iowa campus. A group of protesters were shown on video setting fire to the flag.
People passing by confronted them, and a FedEx driver even took away one of the flags. Video of the incident went viral.
"I don't feel like I deserve the praise, I never wanted it. It's humbling, you know, it is," Matt Uhrin said in an interview. "It really hurts when you see [the flag] disgraced."
After the video surfaced, an online petition was created to help Uhrin keep his job. The petition received more than 3,500 signatures.
After seeing the video, FedEx tweeted from its corporate account, saying:
"We have reviewed the matter in Iowa City involving driver Matt Uhrin. He remains a FedEx employee & we have no plans to change his status.”
The protestors told the Iowa City Press Citizen they were protesting racial and social injustice. Two of the demonstrators, Kelli Ebensberger and Paul Osgerby, were cited by police for open burning. They will appear in court next month.
"The ones that are really the heroes are the ones that were injured, maimed, killed, the ones that never got to see home again. They're the heroes," said Uhrin. "I want people to realize I don't have a Twitter. I'm not gonna be out there asking for stuff. If you want to buy me a meal, if you want to buy me a beer, if you wanna send me gift cards or something, I would rather you guys take that money, and there's a plethora list of veteran charities that are in need of money."
