Alito says wife displayed upside-down flag after argument with insulting neighbor
Alito tells Fox News neighbor put up sign that read ‘F--- Trump,’ insulted his wife
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Friday spoke to Fox News about the upside-down American flag seen flying outside his home in the days following the Jan. 6 Capitol protests, saying his wife displayed it in response to insults directed at her from a neighbor.
Alito weighed in after The New York Times first reported on the story Thursday, in which it said the upside-down flag — a symbol adopted by some Trump supporters disputing the results of the 2020 presidential election — appeared outside Alito’s home in Alexandria, Virginia, on Jan. 17, 2021.
Alito said the saga in his neighborhood began in the days around Jan. 6, 2021, when a neighbor living down the street put up a sign that read "F--- Trump" about 50 feet away from a children’s bus stop.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said his wife, Martha-Ann, then spoke with those neighbors about the sign and the conversation was not well received.
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Associate Justice Samuel Alito joins other members of the Supreme Court as they pose for a group portrait in October 2022. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
Alito told Fox News those neighbors then put up a sign directly attacking his wife and personally blaming her for the events that transpired on Jan. 6 at the nation’s capital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He said that during a walk in the neighborhood with his wife, one person who lived at the property with the signage then got into an argument with her — at one point calling her derogatory language "including the C-word."
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Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his wife Martha-Ann attend a ceremonial swearing-in at the East Room of the White House in February 2006. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Following that incident, Alito said Martha-Ann was distraught and decided to make some sort of statement by hanging the American flag upside down outside their home.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Alito told Fox News he had no role in the flag decision, and it was flying outside their property only "for a short time."
Justice Samuel Alito delivers a commencement speech at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio on Saturday. (Franciscan University of Steubenville)
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He added that he felt he had no right or ability to control or order around his wife and that some neighbors on his street have been "very political."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The story surrounding the flag outside Alito’s home comes as the Supreme Court is deciding on former President Trump’s immunity case.