Upside-down American flag flying outside Etna Township trustee's home angers local vets
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
An upside-down American flag, a symbol connected with false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump, has been flying outside an elected official's Licking County home in recent weeks.
The inverted flag has been displayed at the home of Etna Township Trustee Rozland McKee since early June. But when three residents raised the issue during the township trustees meeting Tuesday, McKee said it had nothing to do with her or her role as a 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 feels like he wants to hang his flag," McKee said.
The topic has been in the national news since The New York Times reported on May 16 that an upside-down American flag flew outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Jan. 17, 2021, less than two weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Alito told The Times that he had no involvement in flying the flag, saying his wife put it there. When demands arose that Alito should recuse himself from any decision involving 2020 election result cases, Alito said that his wife had posted the flag upside down to protest derogatory signs in a neighbor’s yard and not in support of the insurrectionists.
"The flag should never be displayed with the union (stars) down, except as a signal of dire distress in instances 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 "trying to convey a sign of distress or great danger," according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Inverted flags have been used by Trump supporters, particularly those protesting the 2020 election results, according to USA TODAY.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's office said McKee is also one of Ohio's delegates for the 2024 Republican National Convention, which takes place next month in Milwaukee.
When asked after the trustees meeting if she was concerned about the message the upside flag sends given that she is a public official, 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 that the inverted flag has been used in other movements, including anti-Vietnam War protests of the 1960s and 1970s.
"Our country is under stress right now," she said in an interview. "There is a lot going on, but it has nothing to do with me."
The three residents who brought up the issue are all former military members who were upset that a public official would "disrespect the flag that 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 altercation about the flag on June 4, according to a police report based on a complaint McKee filed with the Licking County Sheriff's Office.
McKee was outside her home when Carley drove by slowly, according to the report. After passing her house, Carley turned around and returned. McKee told deputies Carley began to curse at her over the inverted flag and pulled into her driveway. She informed him she was "a supporter of the Second Amendment" and demanded that he leave.
Carley stated he would be back and that he was a supporter of the Second Amendment as well, accoring to McKee's complaint to the sheriff's office.
After speaking with McKee, sheriff's deputies found Carley at his own nearby home, according to the report. He told deputies he pulled into McKee's driveway because he was hard of hearing. When deputies asked whether he was going to return, Carley said he planned to go back to continue their discussion.
After speaking again with McKee, deputies told Carley not to return to her home, and Carley stated he would not.
McKee said after the Tuesday meeting that she had doorbell camera footage of the incident with Carley, but declined to provided that when asked by The Newark Advocate.
Preston Cunningham, a 13-year Etna resident and Air Force veteran, said after Tuesday's meeting that he wasn't satisfied with McKee's answers about the display being her husband's decision. As an elected representative of the community, she also bears responsibility for flying an inverted flag, he said.
"If you're going to present a flag in that manner — upside down — then you ought to be willing to tell us why," he said.
Cunningham said he emailed McKee on June 12 asking why the flag was displayed in that manner and he 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."
740-607-2175
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Upside-down flag flies at Etna trustee's home, angering veterans
