The Alabama congressman who tweeted a picture of the controversial Appeal to Heaven flag minutes before reports of a verdict in the Donald Trump’s New York trial said his post was “in support of the flag” and not a reaction to the then-upcoming verdict.

In a statement to AL.com Thursday night, Moore, a Republican from Enterprise, said he displays the Appeal to Heaven flag outside his Washington office.

“Displaying the Appeal to Heaven flag represents my reliance on God rather than the government for freedom and protection, and that shouldn’t be controversial,” Moore said. “Democrats often want to twist history to fit their narrative, but George Washington commissioned this flag as a symbol of the colonists’ reliance on God to save them from the King’s tyranny and our First Amendment allows me to fly it proudly.”

Minutes before reports circulated that the New York jury reached a verdict in the falsifying business records case, Moore tweeted a photo of the Appeal to Heaven flag:

The photo was not accompanied by any comment by Moore.

The flag has drawn attention after the New York Times reported that flag was flying over the New Jersey beach home of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito last summer. The paper previously reported an inverted American flag was flown at Alito’s Virginia home after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Both flags were carried by rioters who violently stormed the Capitol in January 2021 echoing Trump’s false claims of election fraud.

The “Appeal to Heaven” flag has in recent years come to symbolize sympathies with the Christian nationalist movement and the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump. According to Americanflags.com, the pine tree on the flag symbolized strength and resilience in the New England colonies while the words “Appeal to Heaven” stemmed from the belief that God would deliver the colonists from tyranny.

Alito said he was unaware that the upside-down flag was flying above his house until it was called to his attention. “As soon as I saw it, I asked my wife to take it down, but for several days, she refused,” he wrote in nearly identical letters to Democrats in the House and Senate.

Alito said his wife made the decision to fly the “Appeal to Heaven” flag.

About an hour after his “Appeal to Heaven” tweet, Moore posted a statement on the Trump guilty verdict, which he called “a sad day for America.

“This verdict is a travesty of justice in a kangaroo court, and it proves Joe Biden’s sole focus is not to help the American people, but instead to weaponize against his political opponents to help his reelection during a failing administration,” he said.