Alito says wife displayed upside-down flag after argument with insulting neighbor

Justice Alito warns students that ‘support for freedom of speech is declining’

Justice Samuel Alito warns students at Franciscan University of Steubenville that ‘support for freedom of speech is declining.’ (Franciscan University of Steubenville)

WASHINGTON – 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. 

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. 

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. 

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." 

The story surrounding the flag outside Alito’s home comes as the Supreme Court is deciding on former President Trump’s immunity case. 

Shannon Bream currently serves as anchor of FOX News Sunday. She joined the network in 2007 as a Washington D.C- based correspondent covering the Supreme Court. Her latest book is "The Love Stories of the Bible Speak."

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