An inverted American flag, a symbol linked to false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from the former president Donald Trumpflew outside the home of an elected official in Licking County in recent weeks.
The upside-down flag has been hanging at the home of Etna Township Trustee Rozland McKee since early June. But when three residents raised the issue at Tuesday’s township trustees meeting, McKee said it had nothing to do with her or her role as trustee. It was her husband’s decision to hang the flag that way, she said.
“I can’t stop him from hanging a flag the way he thinks he wants to hang his flag,” McKee said.
The topic has been in national news since The New York Times reported on May 16 that on January 17, 2021, less than two weeks after January 6, an upside-down American flag flew outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. 2021, insurrection attack on the US Capitol.
Alito told The Times that he was not involved in raising the flag and said his wife put it there. When there were demands that Alito recuse himself from any decision regarding 2020 election results cases, Alito said his wife hung the flag upside down to protest derogatory signs in a neighbor’s yard and not in support of the insurgents .
“The flag shall never be displayed with the union (stars) downwards except as a signal of dire distress in cases of extreme danger to life or property,” according to the U.S. Flag Code, which is not legally enforceable.
While it is not illegal to fly the flag upside down, the flag should only be flown that way when “attempting to convey a sign of distress or grave danger,” according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
According to USA TODAY, upside-down flags have been used by Trump supporters, especially those protesting the 2020 election results.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office said McKee is also one of Ohio’s delegates to the 2024 Republican National Convention, taking place next month in Milwaukee.
When asked after the trustees meeting if she was concerned about the message the up flag sends since she is a public servant, McKee said it had nothing to do with her.
McKee declined to say why the flag is displayed that way at her home, but said the inverted flag has been used in other movements, including anti-Vietnam War protests in the 1960s and 1970s.
“Our country is currently under pressure,” she said in an interview. “There’s a lot going on, but it has nothing to do with me.”
The three residents who raised the issue are all former military members who were angry that an official “would not respect the flag we fought for and served under,” Larry Carley, a Navy veteran, said after the meeting .
Before speaking at the meeting, McKee and Carley had an argument about the flag on June 4, according to a police report based on a complaint McKee filed with the Licking County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the report, McKee was outside her home when Carley slowly drove by. After passing her house, Carley turned around and returned. McKee told officers that Carley began cursing at her because of the upside-down flag and pulled into her driveway. She told him she was “a supporter of the Second Amendment” and demanded he leave.
Carley stated that he would be back and that he was also a supporter of the Second Amendment, according to McKee’s complaint to the sheriff’s office.
After speaking with McKee, sheriff’s deputies found Carley at his own nearby home, the report said. He told officers he pulled into McKee’s driveway because he was hard of hearing. When officers asked if he would return, Carley said he planned to go back to continue their discussion.
After speaking with McKee again, the officers told Carley not to return to her home, and Carley stated that he would not.
McKee said after Tuesday’s meeting that she had doorbell camera footage of the incident with Carley, but declined to provide it when The Newark Advocate asked.
Preston Cunningham, a 13-year Etna resident and Air Force veteran, said after Tuesday’s meeting that he was unhappy with McKee’s responses that the display was her husband’s decision. As an elected representative of the community, she also bears the responsibility of raising an inverted flag, he said.
“If you’re going to present a flag that way – upside down – then you have to be prepared to tell us why,” he said.
Cunningham said he emailed McKee on June 12 asking why the flag was displayed that way, but never received a response.
McKee said after the meeting, “I don’t have to answer it because it has nothing to do with me. It has nothing to do with my role as a trustee.”
mdevito@gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Vets criticize Mount Etna manager for inverted flag flying at her home
