BOISE, Idaho — In the early morning hours on Resurrection Sunday, conservative American activists hoisted an Appeal to Heaven flag outside Boise City Hall. The political activism was made public when @casey_whalen posted a video on X at 7:14 a.m. on April 20.
This morning local activists raised the An Appeal To Heaven flag outside of Boise City Hall. A lawfully permitted wartime naval flag, acceptable to be flown under the recently passed HB96 by the Idaho Legislature under an emergency. Happy Easter! #idpol #idleg @CityOfBoise
Casey Whalen, April 20 X Post
The two-minute video shows two men using a ladder to attach the Appeal to Heaven flag to the flag pole outside Boise City Hall, while covering flags that violate Idaho’s new flag display law that went into effect on April 3.
Idaho Dispatch published an article shortly after Whalen’s X post identifying one of the men as David Pettinger.
“Local conservative activist David Pettinger used a ladder at 4:30 a.m. this Easter morning to cover up Boise’s LGBT flag, which violates Idaho law, and put up the Appeal to Heaven flag at the same time,” wrote Greg Pruett of Idaho Dispatch.
“The Appeal to Heaven flag was an official Massachusetts state flag during the Revolutionary War,” continued the article. “In 1971, Massachusetts removed the ‘Appeal to Heaven’ wording and kept the tree on the flag. Under HB 96, official flags of other states are acceptable.”
Boise Mayor Lauren McLean’s decision to disregard Idaho law has sparked controversy across the state and drew the attention of Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador.
On April 15, Kootenai Journal published Labrador’s letter to McLean in which he warned that legislative leaders intend to create “strong enforcement tools” next session to address blatant violations of the law.
“The law prohibits the display of unauthorized flags by government entities on public property,” Labrador posted on X. “I remind the Mayor that no public official has the authority to disregard laws they disagree with and ask her to comply.”
“It’s quite possible to fly flags that by their very nature are divisive and that alienate a great percentage of the population,” a Boise man told McLean on April 16. “So my own personal plea…I ask that you would appreciate those differences and I don’t want my city to be a be representing me in a way that fundamentally…[is] not me.”
