Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito displayed an upside-down American flag outside his Virginia home just weeks after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, when he spoke out against the MAGA It was used as a symbol of the policy of “Stop it!”
A photo of an upside-down flag has been widely associated with former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud. new york times On Thursday.
Alito, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, did not deny that an upside-down flag was displayed on his front lawn, but he blamed it on his wife, Martha Ann Alito. .
“I had no involvement whatsoever in raising the flag,” the conservative judge told the outlet.
“This was temporarily installed by Mrs. Alito in response to a neighbor using offensive and derogatory language on a yard sign.”
According to U.S. flag regulations, the flag should never be flown upside down “except to indicate dire distress or extreme danger to life or property.”
However, in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, some MAGA supporters began flying upside-down American flags to show their support for Trump.
The photo of the flag outside Alito’s home appears to have been taken by an alarmed neighbor on January 17, 2021, but The Times reported that it only recently obtained the image.
Neighbors claim that Alito’s wife was at the time in an argument with another family in the neighborhood over an anti-Trump sign on their lawn, and that the flag was a symbol of political support for “Stop the Steal.” It was interpreted as a statement.
It was not immediately clear whether the plane was meant to show support for Trump or how long it had been on the flight.
The photo’s release comes as Supreme Court justices consider two major cases related to the January 6 attack. That includes whether Trump should enjoy presidential immunity from prosecution and a lawsuit that could overturn hundreds of charges against rioters.
The Supreme Court has not publicly commented on Alito’s flag-raising saga.