Upside-down flag flew at Justice Alito’s house on January 6

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'At worst he's outright lying': Alito ex-neighbor at center of flag dispute speaks out
by Eric Burnett
CNN
Jun 5, 2024 #CNN #news

CNN's Erin Burnett speaks with Emily Baden, the former neighbor of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, about their dispute that Alito says led his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, to hoist controversial flags in response to her exchange with Baden. #CNN #news



Transcript

Thanks so much, Emily, for
taking the time
and coming out to talk about this.
I know it's
not something
you really expected to ever have to do,
but I want to start with
the dispute itself
with Martha and Alito, Justice
Alito's wife.
I know it
began after the 20, 20 election
over yard signs
that you had placed at your mother's home
where you were living at the time.
Can you start off by
just explaining to me
what those
those first yard signs you put out said
Yes.
And Aaron,
thank you so much for having me today.
My first yard sign that I put up
was an anti-Trump sign.
It said F Trump
in glitter cursive letters.
And, you know, it was just as like
a message to the world that
I see Trump as a danger to our democracy.
And I see him
as a self-proclaimed fascist.
Like he said, he wanted to be a dictator.
On day one of his presidency.
And so I just use my small influence
in my small corner of the world to just,
you know, broadcast my views like that.
All right.
So you put the f trump sign out
in glitter. And Mrs.
Alito
responds right so tell me about that.
What she how she reacted
Yeah.
So there were a handful of times that we
somewhat interacted, like,
not actually speaking, but,
you know,
she kind of stopped in front of the house
and gave us a long glare.
And I just want to emphasize
that the interaction
that happened on February 15th
is the one that
they're using as an excuse
for why they flew the flag.
And I really want to hammer home
the fact that that happened
on February 15th.
And their flag went up
two or three weeks before that.
So even if it were a valid excuse
that they were having a dispute
with a neighbor
and that made them put the flag up,
the that timeline just disproves it.
It just doesn't make sense.
No, it doesn't.
And I want to
I want to go to that in in detail.
But but first, just the very basic.
When you put up the F Trump sign
and she walks by and she glares.
Did you really?
Had you ever talked to her before?
Did you realize that this was Mary?
This was Martha and Alito?
Yeah.
So when I moved back to
the area in 20, 20,
I did know that the Alito's lived
in the neighborhood.
I didn't know which house.
I didn't know what they looked like.
And so it didn't take me
long, though,
to put two and two together.
And to realize
when she's standing outside.
So you realize
that she's upset about this.
So then when January six happens,
I my understanding
is and correct me if I'm wrong here,
because I'm try to make sure
I have all the timeline right as well.
But you then added a yard sign
Trump is a fascist, which just indicated
you feel that way.
And you are complicit.
And I want to ask you
about those specifically
because Justice Alito
says that those specific signs
you are fascist
and I'm sorry, Trump is a fascist
and you are complicit
were, quote, directed at his wife,
were they?
Yeah.
No, no.
So January 6th was a dark day
for our democracy.
And I think people of all ideologies
feel that way.
We all saw this direct
threat to our democracy.
And it was chilling.
And so my putting up a sign
that says Trump is a fascist
because I believe that he's
a self-proclaimed fascist
and you are complicit.
You include everyone.
It includes
everybody in the GOP
who you know, endorsed this or didn't
say anything against it or
Trump himself
who said, you know, stand by and
just it's to everyone.
And I
also think it's to,
you know,
people on on my side of the spectrum,
it's like,
what are we really doing
to hold these people accountable
for this attempted coup and insurrection?
Like, we need to do more, I feel like.
And so, okay,
so now let me get to the Upside-Down
American flag
because and to go through this
in a bit of detail,
because I think here is where
your point
about what he is alleging happened
here does not comport with the timeline
so the flag is flying.
Justice Alito says his wife flew it
because she was, quote,
greatly distressed
by her disputes with you.
And in a letter
to explaining his motivation
to put up the flag,
he says, and I quote him again,
Emily, a house on the street
displayed a sign
attacking her personally.
I guess that's the you are complicit or,
you know,
that you were just talking about,
but that you say was not directed at her.
And a man who was living in the house
at the time
trailed her all the way down the street
and berated her in my presence
using foul language,
including what I regard
as the vilest epithet
that can be addressed to a woman,
which is the key word.
Now, let me just break this down, animal.
You say it was you who said those things.
It was not your now husband.
But you say Alito is lying here
for another very basic reason.
Can you explain
So
I am at best
he's mistaken,
but at worst, he's just outright lying.
And there was a neighbor
who even who even witnessed this
and witnessed me using that
unfortunate term.
And what else I said in that interaction
is so important
and I hope it's not getting forgotten
in the discourse around the word.
In that interaction,
she approached us, started screaming
at us, used all of our full names,
which to me felt like a threat.
Because you're a stranger.
We don't know you.
You don't know us.
How do you know our full names?
And I just
I started yelling, How dare you?
Because they both were there
at the same time.
I said, How dare you?
You're on the highest court in the land.
You represent the Supreme Court
of the United States.
You're behaving this way.
You're yelling at a neighbor.
You're harassing us.
How dare you? Shame on you.
And I
did use the the word so
if that in any way, you know, distracts
from that real message,
I do regret using the word
because the message is important.
It's like
the power imbalance between
these people and me.
I am.
I'm nobody to them. So.
And the fact they took umbrage with with
my sign is telling enough.
It shows like a bias.
So, I mean.
Well, I mean, I want to talk about that.
But just to be very clear
on the timing, he's
saying that that she put up the flag
because you said those things.
But when we look at that was actually
you called 911 on that day.
There's actually a police report
about that incident.
And that shows
that the timing doesn't work. Right.
The flag was up
before the flag picture
that exactly why was was was weeks before
that incident actually happened
where you called
where you calling for that work?
So what he's saying
here, you're saying it
best mistaken,
but it certainly is just it's
categorically by the date, it's not true.
Right.
She didn't put the
flag up for that reason.
Absolutely.
100%.
And that's
what I want to really drive
home to people,
is that this happened on February 15th.
And we know that
because they had been harassing
us so long that we were like,
we need a paper trail of this.
Like we better call the cops right now.
You know, like I said,
these are federally protected people.
They have security detail.
They represent the judicial system.
They are the law.
And I am just a regular person.
And so it's,
you know,
yeah, we call the cops that day.
It was February 15th
and I think the photo of the flag
was on January 17th.
Yes.
So so that the timing doesn't add up.
I do think it's important, Emily,
just to emphasize here that
this is happening between
you, your husband, your
your household and
a Supreme Court justice and his wife.
And a police report is called.
I mean, it is pretty stunning.
Just even think about that.
Can I just ask you about your interaction
with him? He's there.
He says this happened in his presence.
Was this altercation
where you're saying
she was screaming at you
with your full name
and you responded with the the C word.
What did he do?
What did he say?
He didn't say anything.
And I find that very telling because
I feel like in any other situation,
somebody would step in.
If they see somebody
like accosting someone like that
and they would say, hey,
you know, ease up a little bit.
Let's let's go.
Let's walk down the street.
He didn't do anything.
He just kept walking
and basically disappeared.
Never said a word.
I mean.
So I want to ask you about
one other thing.
Around this time,
the Alito security detail
started doing something
that you perceived as threatening.
They have a security detail
and something specific happened.
What was it? Yeah.
So they have a security detail
that parks in front of their house
or like in front of the house
across the street from them.
We are four or five houses away.
And sometimes
that detail would be
in front of our house, which,
you know, obviously,
I can't say for sure.
I don't know what their motivation was,
but we did take it as intimidating,
especially when that same car reappeared
in front of our house
the day the New York Times
article came out.
And I don't know what else we're
supposed to get from that,
but you certainly felt you
certainly felt threatened.
And let me let me just ask you, Emily,
you know,
you're talking before this,
and I think I don't want to say anything
inappropriate,
but I know you were nervous to talk.
You were
you thought about this long
and hard to decide
whether you
thought it was worthwhile to speak out.
Why do you think it is so important
that you tell this story
I think it is monumentally important.
I think our democracy is fragile.
And we learned that on January 6th and
we see it all the time
with people like Trump
who say they want to be a dictator.
These are serious, serious things.
And I just want people, regular people
like myself
to understand that we live in a democracy
and we don't have to
we don't have to watch our democracy
become a dictatorship.
Or a fascist, you know,
Christian nationalist society.
Like, we need to pay attention.
We need to stand up organize and resist.
All right.
Well, Emily,
I appreciate your time
and thank you so much for talking to me.
It's really my pleasure.
Thank you so, so much.