Emily Baden stands in the background in San Francisco. Before moving to San Francisco, he was next door to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, who is said to have been a silent observer of heated exchanges between him and Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann Alito, over signs in the Baden family’s backyard.
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The former liberal neighbor of conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito publicly gave an account of the many tense interactions he had with Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann, during the 2020 presidential election and January 6, 2021, attacking. Capitol.
The saga began as a dispute over anti-Trump yard signs and culminated in a profanity-filled confrontation on the street, witnessed by Justice Alito.
“It’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever experienced in my life,” said her neighbor, Emily Baden, in an interview with NPR. “The power imbalance between these people and me is huge. It doesn’t seem like it could get any bigger.”
Justice Alito cited the neighborhood dispute as the context for the American flag flying in front of his home in Northern Virginia in the days following the Capitol riots.
Sailors have historically used the inverted flag as a symbol of distress. More recently, the upside-down American flag has also been associated with the pro-Trump “stop the theft” movement and efforts to keep the former president in power. Some Trump supporters carried upside down flags during the January 6 riots. Because of these associations, Democrats have called for Alito to recuse himself from cases related to Trump and the insurgency.
Alito has rejected those arguments and said his wife only — over Justice Alito’s objections — raised the resignation flag after arguing with Baden.
“My wife’s reasons for flying the flag are not appropriate for today’s purposes,” Alito wrote to members of the Democratic Congress, “but I note that he was very distressed at the time, in large part, over a nasty environmental dispute. I did not participate.”
He said his wife was also responsible for displaying another flag, known as the “Shout to Heaven,” at Alito’s beach house in New Jersey. The flag dates back to the American Revolution and, in recent years, has also been embraced by some right-wing religious conservatives. “My wife likes to fly the flag,” Alito wrote. “I don’t.”
Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. (left) and his wife Martha-Ann Alito, pay their respects at the Reverend Billy Graham’s casket in the US Capitol Rotunda in 2018.
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Pablo Martinez Monsvais/AP
Baden told NPR that Alito’s explanation of the upside-down flag was “ridiculous” and didn’t fit the timeline of the environmental dispute. Baden admitted that he called Martha-Ann Alito the “c-word” on the way during the meeting, which Martha-Ann Alito said started. But he noted that the incident happened several weeks ago next An upside-down flag was raised in front of Alito’s house, according to a report from the New York Times, which broke the story.
The Supreme Court did not respond to NPR’s request for comment.
A series of increasingly heated encounters
Baden and his wife (then boyfriend) moved to his mother’s house in northern Virginia in 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to quit his job as an actor and restaurant server in New York.
Baden describes himself as a “leftist,” but says he doesn’t think much of Alitos down the road. Alito’s house is further down the cul-de-sac, and not visible from his mother’s front yard.
After Joe Biden was announced as the winner of the 2020 presidential election, Baden celebrated and put up a handmade sign on his lawn. On one side it says “BYE-DON,” and on the other “F*** Trump.”
One day, Baden said, the wind blew the sign down. According to Baden, Martha-Ann Alito happened to be driving by and thanked Baden for removing the sign. But Baden has no intention of leaving a mark down.
“I said, ‘I’ll keep signing up. Thank you. Bye.’ Or something like that,” he said.
After the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol, Baden created new signs that read, “You are complicit” and “Trump Is A Fascist.”
The next day, Baden said he and his wife were sitting in a car parked in front of his mother’s house when someone drove up next to them.
Abortion rights protesters demonstrate outside Chief Justice Alito’s home in Northern Virginia on June 27, 2022.
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“The people inside just stared at us, just glared at us,” Baden said. “And I was just sitting there, like, thinking to myself, ‘Oh my God, that’s Mrs. Alito. That’s her.’ And he stopped there for what felt like an eternity and then left.
“I texted some friends like, ‘You’re not going to believe what just happened. I’m being weird right now,'” he said.
About a week or so, according to that New York Times, an upside-down American flag began flying in front of Alitos’ home. Baden said he never saw it.
Then, on January 20, 2021, Joe Biden is set to be inaugurated as president. Baden said he and his wife decided to drive by Alito’s house out of curiosity.
“I don’t know if I expected to see anything or what I expected,” he said.
Baden said Martha Ann-Alito was in the front of the house.
“And he saw us and went out into the street and he was yelling and we couldn’t hear him,” Baden said. “Our window was up and we were moving. So we didn’t hear him yelling.
The street is a cul-de-sac, which means Baden and his wife have to turn around and pass Alito’s house twice.
“And we saw in our rearview mirror, he, like, spit on our car, or it looked like he spit on our car and then he got out of there,” Baden said. In Baden’s account, Alito was not close enough to the car to make contact.
The last – and most heated – meeting between Baden and Alitos takes place on February 15, 2021.
“My wife and I were just on the street. We took the trash can. And then the Alitos” – both Justice Alito and Martha-Ann Alito – “walked, of course just walked.”
Baden said he and his wife were surprised to see him.
“Then Mrs. Alito said something like, ‘Wow, good, if you’re not a fascist, Emily and my wife’s name and my mother’s name, you – you’ are af****** fascists.'”
Baden said he was surprised to hear Martha-Ann Alito use every full name. Baden had never known his name, and his wife was unmarried and had no last name.
While Baden lived in Northern Virginia, he had tense interactions with Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann, during the 2020 presidential election and the January 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol.
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“And when I say it again,” said Baden. “I just said, like, ‘How can you act like that? You represent the highest court in the land. What are you doing? I’m a stranger to you. This is because of my password? That’s crazy.'”
Baden admitted that he called Martha-Ann Alito the “c word”.
Alito described the use of “vulgar language” in his letter, and “the most vile epithet that can be directed at a woman.”
Baden told NPR that he now regrets using those words.
“They chose to harass and intimidate us when we were doing nothing. We were just random people,” Baden said. “That’s the message I’m trying to convey. And, you know, and if there’s a cheap curse word, then, yeah, I’m going to say that I regret saying it.
Baden said Justice Alito remained silent throughout the meeting. Baden shouted, Alitos left.
“Mr. Alito walked faster,” he recalled. “He really got out of there.”
Shortly thereafter, Baden’s wife called the police and recorded the call. He shared the footage with NPR. The officer who answered told him there was nothing he could do after the fact, but said he would call Alitos’ protective detail.
He told Baden’s wife to call the police again if anything else happened. But Baden said it was the last time Alitos and Baden met.
“My husband is a private citizen, and he has the same First Amendment rights as every other American,” Alito wrote in a letter to Congress. “They make their own decisions, and I always respect their rights.”
