In yet another attempt by The New York Times to target conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, the author of the decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the Times reported that the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which was originally used by a squadron of frigates commissioned by George Washington at the time of the Revolutionary War, was flown at Alito’s beach house last summer.
The Times wrote that the flag, which features a pine tree, was “carried by rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021” and is “now a symbol of support for former President Donald J. Trump, for a religious strand of the ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign and for a push to remake American government in Christian terms.”
In America, prior to the Revolutionary War, England would use white pine trees from New England for the masts of their ships. King George III and the British Parliament banned colonists from chopping down white pine trees 12” in diameter or larger, which they could because the American settlers were still living on British property. In 1771, local law enforcement, at the behest of the British, arrested Ebenezer Mudgett, the owner of the Weare mill. That catalyzed the Pine Tree Riot, which is believed to inspire the later Boston Tea Party.
The Times said “several ethics experts” called the news of the flag “troubling … because it ties Justice Alito more closely to symbols associated with the attempted election subversion on Jan. 6, and because it was displayed as the obstruction case was first coming for consideration by the court.”
“Judges are not supposed to give any impression of bias, yet the flag could be seen as telegraphing the Alitos’ views,” the Times opined, then quoted a law professor from Indiana University calling it “deeply disturbing.”
Last week, the Times reported of an upside-down American flag flown outside Alito’s Virginia home in 2021. Six days later, the Times published a series of letters condemning Alito in a column titled, “Justice Alito’s Blame-the-Wife Defense.”
“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,” Fox News reported. “He said his wife, Martha-Ann, then spoke with those neighbors about the sign and the conversation was not well received. 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.”
Alito added that a person who lived at the property with the Trump sign called his wife the “C-word” as the Alitos walked by, prompting his wife to fly the flag upside down for a short time.
In June 2023, the Times quoted people slamming The Wall Street Journal for allowing Alito to write an opinion piece in which he explained his position after the leftist outlet ProPublica had contacted him with questions about a fishing trip from 2008. The Journal published its piece before ProPublica published its piece attacking Alito. Yet the Times admitted, “Stephen Engelberg, the editor in chief of ProPublica, said in a statement on Wednesday that ProPublica always invited people mentioned in articles to offer a response before publication.”