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A second home belonging to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was found flying a flag supporting the January 6th rioters.
According to reports, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was flying another flag that was carried by rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, at a vacation home that he owned in New Jersey. The flag, captured in photographs, was an “Appeal To Heaven” flag which is also known as the Pine Tree flag. It was on view as late as last year, when the Supreme Court weighed a decision on when to prosecute January 6 rioters, according to neighbors in the area on Long Beach Island where the home is located.
The “Appeal To Heaven” flag, which was first flown in the Revolutionary War by the forces of General George Washington, shows a green pine tree on a white background with the phrase “An Appeal To Heaven” inspired by British philosopher John Locke’s “right to revolution” – which encourages violence as a means – doctrine on it. It had fallen out of usage for many years until the last decade when it had become a symbol primarily for “a theological vision of what the United States should be and how it should be governed,” according to Institute of Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies scholar Matthew Taylor. The flag has recently been seen in the office of House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson and has been promoted by Dutch Sheets, a man who was prominent in helping to further former President Donald Trump’s false claims of the 2020 presidential election being stolen.
The news comes days after Alito’s denial that he was responsible for flying the U.S. flag in reverse at his home in Virginia after the January 6 insurrection, which was reported by the New York Times. The conservative Supreme Court Justice has been under fire for leaking the decision that would overturn Roe V. Wade, as well as selling Bud Light stock as the company dealt with right-wing backlash over working with a trans influencer. There have been calls from Democrats in Congress for Alito to be censured for his actions, and for him to recuse himself from any January 6-related cases including the question of immunity for Donald Trump concerning his involvement in the events of January 6.