Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) urged Democrats to use their power in order to investigate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito over his flying of a Revolutionary War flag.
The “An Appeal to Heaven” flag, one of the foremost flags used by Patriot forces during the Revolutionary War, was spotted flying above Alito’s house, drawing outrage from Democrats. In an appearance on MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes, Ocasio-Cortez claimed that the flying of the flag was Alito’s way of identifying with Jan. 6 rioters.
“This is an alarm that I’ve been sounding for quite some time now. I think that what we are seeing here is an extraordinary breach… of not just the trust and the the stature of the Supreme Court, but we are seeing a fundamental challenge to our democracy,” she said. “Samuel Alito has identified himself with the same people who raided the Capitol on January 6 and is now going to be presiding over court cases that have deep implications over the participants of that rally.”
Ocasio-Cortez then urged Democrats to send out subpoenas to investigate Alito.
“And while this is a threat to our democracy, Democrats have a responsibility for … defending our democracy. And in the Senate, we have gavels — there should be subpoenas going out. There should be active investigations that are happening,” she said.
“I also believe that when Democrats have power, we have to use it,” the New York Democrat continued. “We cannot be in perpetual campaign mode. We need to be in governance mode. We need to be in accountability mode, with every lever that we have because we cannot take a Senate majority for granted, a House majority for granted, or a White House for granted.”
Ocasio-Cortez is one of many Democrats who have shown outrage over Alito’s flag, which comes shortly after criticism over his flying of an upside-down American flag — a historic expression of political distress interpreted as being a pro-Trump statement as it was flown in the days following the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The Appeal to Heaven flag was designed by George Washington’s secretary, Colonel Joseph Reed in 1775. The text on the flag, displayed above a New England pine tree, refers to a passage from the English philosopher John Locke in his Second Treatise on Government. In the passage, Locke argued that citizens had a divinely ordained right to revolt against any governing body or figure seen as unjust.
“And where the body of the people, or any single man, is deprived of their right, or is under the exercise of a power without right, and have no appeal on earth, then they have a liberty to appeal to heaven,” he wrote.
The flag was flown by a Massachusetts naval squadron during the Revolutionary War and adopted as the state’s naval flag. A version of the flag, without the text since 1971, remains as Massachusetts’s naval ensign.
The flag has taken on a variety of meanings to different people in recent years and has been embraced by some Christians and conservatives. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) flies the flag alongside the American flag and Louisiana state flag outside his office. Other congressional Republicans fly the flag as well — Rep. Eric Burlison (R-MO) defended his use of the flag after backlash against Alito.
“The ‘An Appeal to Heaven’ flag isn’t provocative and has nothing to do with Jan. 6,” he wrote. “The liberal media should pick up a history book.”
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The Appeal to Heaven flag was flown by a handful of Jan. 6 rioters, along with dozens of other flags, including the American flag, South Vietnamese flag, Republic of Georgia flag, Romanian flag, Pahlavi Iran flag, Marine Corps flag, Thin Blue Line flag, Jolly Roger flag, “Kekistan” flag, Confederate flag, Texan flag, Kazakh flag, “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, numerous variations of Make America Great Again flags, and many more.
Images of the riot don’t appear to show the Appeal to Heaven flag having an outsize role.
