MILFORD — A prominent local property owner told a media outlet that he flew the American flag upside-down at several of his properties over the weekend because he feels the country is in distress.
Kevin Meehan, owner of Mendon-based Imperial Cars and several retail properties in Greater Milford, hoisted the American flag upside-down at a property he owns that contains the Mattress Firm store on Cedar Street in Milford, along with Israel’s national flag. Later Monday, when a Daily News photographer visited the site, the flag was flying properly.
Meehan’s move came after a New York jury on Thursday found former President Donald Trump guilty on 34 felony charges related to falsifying business records. Shortly afterward the verdict, images showing upside-down American flags began appearing on social media as his supporters protest the conviction.
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A local resident who declined to be named sent the Daily News via Facebook a photo of an upside-down flag flying outside Mattress Firm on Cedar Street (Route 85) in Milford. The resident cited a volatile political climate as being the reason she wished to remain anonymous.
Meehan did not return Daily News requests for comment. But in an interview Monday with Patch.com, he said the United States is a nation in distress.
“We’re at the end, this is 1930 (expletive) Germany with Hitler,” he told the news outlet.
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Meehan also told Patch he flew the Israel flag because the Middle Eastern country is “our greatest supporter.” He defended Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza, and blamed Hamas for the estimated thousands of dead Palestinian children in Gaza.
In an email statement, Jack Barbour, a spokesperson for Mattress Firm, distanced the company from the inverted flags.
“The flags near our Milford store are displayed by the property owner and do not represent the views of Mattress Firm or our employees,” he wrote.
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Meehan owns several car dealerships and retail properties. In August, his real estate company purchased Granite Heights Marketplace on Milford’s Fortune Boulevard.
What does the inverted flag mean?
According to United States Flag Code, a legally non-enforceable set of guidelines that establish rules for display and care of the country’s flags, flags are not to be flown upside-down except as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
However, flying an upside-down flag has been used as a symbol of protest on both sides of the political spectrum.
USA Today reports that an upside-down flag was carried by several people who took part in the riots at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and has become a well known symbol to election deniers. On the other side of the political spectrum, the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University states that progressives used the inverted sign to protest the overturning of Roe v. Wade two years ago.
