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Cops replace American flag woman used to fend off attacker

An elderly woman who used her flagpole in self-defense said she was worried the flag had become desecrated

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South Salt Lake police officers pose with 73-year-old Lejune Timmerman after replacing the American flag she used to defend her family from an intruder.

Photo/Salt Lake Police Department

By Suzie Ziegler

SOUTH SALT LAKE, Utah — Old Glory became the necessary weapon of choice for a 73-year-old woman earlier this week when her family was attacked in their front yard. Officers bought her a new flag after the woman said she was worried her old one had been desecrated.

According to KUTV, Lejune Timmerman used the flag in self-defense Monday morning after a man jumped over the fence into her family’s yard and began attacking her brothers.

“He beat them up for no reason. He was beating on me, choked me,” Timmerman told KUTV. That’s when the elderly woman took the American flagpole from her front porch. “I grabbed my Glory and started beating the hell back. I whooped his a-- and I’ll whoop it again.”

Timmerman says the attacker ran inside the house to a bedroom. South Salt Lake Police arrived minutes later and arrested 42-year-old Justin Smith, according to KUTV.

According to the agency, Timmerman told police the flagpole broke and the banner had touched the ground. She was worried the flag had been desecrated.

“I told them, ‘Hey, I didn’t mean to disrespect my flag, but he was hurting me and beating me,’” Timmerman said to KUTV.

In response, the officers took up a collection. According to KUTV, the same officers returned the next morning to help the family mount the new flag and flagpole on their porch.

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