Slain trooper’s widow defies local Dem pols, flies ‘thin blue line’ flag outside home after controversial town hall vote
A slain Connecticut trooper’s widow flew the “thin blue line’’ flag at her home Friday — after a local Democratic-led council voted against the move at its town hall.
The development came as one of the council members who opposed raising the pro-police flag over nearby Wethersfield’s municipal building in honor of the killed officer told The Post he and his family were getting threats — prompting him to call the cops.
Dominique Pelletier, the widow of 34-year-old dad of two and hero Trooper Aaron Pelletier, had the flag poignantly flying half-staff outside the family’s home in Southington outside of Hartford.
A state police sergeant stationed outside the home said Dominique had no comment — apparently letting the symbol speak for itself.
Wethersfield’s town council — which flipped from Republican to Democratic in 2023 after four years under GOP control — voted 5-3 along party lines Monday against temporarily hoisting the pro-cop flag in front of Town Hall.
Republican Councilman Rich Bailey had proposed raising the flag in honor of Pelletier, who was mowed down by a hit-and-run driver in a traffic stop last week.
The council had already voted to fly the LGBTQ flag in honor of June’s Pride Month.
Democratic Councilwoman Emily Zambrello later told a local news outlet that the ”thin blue line” flag “represents racism and antagonism to many, many people.
“And if you don’t personally believe that, and you fly at your own house and you think it means something to you, that is much more positive — it’s just not how many people feel about it,” Zambrello said.
“It’s not appropriate to raise it over our town hall, especially when our flag policy prohibits us from doing anything associated with hate,” the pol insisted.
Miki Duric — also a Democratic councilman in Wethersfield, a small, historic, agricultural town outside Hartford — said he and his loved ones have been threatened since his vote against raising the “thin blue line” flag.
So he naturally reached out to the one entity that could help him: the police.
Duric said he voted against the flag-raising earlier in the week on procedural grounds, not because of its content.
But that hasn’t stopped “all the hate, all the threats I received personally the past few days,’’ he said.
“I got some threats, me and my family. We notified the police,’’ said Duric, a 39-year-old Bosnian refugee with a wife and four young children.
Bailey called the police flag diss “very disheartening.”
Asked by The Post if he was surprised by the vote, the pol replied, “God, Yeah.
“My father was a policeman for 32 years,’’ Bailey said Friday. “The whole thing is just a shame.’’
He said his late dad, who retired as a Wethersfield lieutenant, “would be very disappointed.
“These guys risk their lives for us every day. I can’t really even fathom this, I can’t.’’
Bailey added that his heart goes out to Dominique Pelletier.
“I feel so bad for her,’’ Bailey said. “She has to read all this stuff.’’
Duric would not comment on whether he supports the “thin blue line” flag, which has been associated with the Blue Lives Matter movement that came about in response to the controversial Black Lives Matter push.
He said that according to council policy, if someone wants to fly a special flag at town hall, a request must be made 30 days beforehand.
“The bottom line for me is, it was not about the actual flag — it’s about the policy that we have. The policy outlines exactly how the proposal should come in,’’ the pol told The Post.
He claimed that the flag request was made by the Republicans simply to “cause hate.
“It wasn’t about honoring an officer, just to make us [Democrats] look bad,’’ Duric said.
But Republican Councilwoman Brianna Timbro said, “I honestly thought [the vote] would be a pretty straightforward ask, just given the tragedy and how the whole state was behind [Pelletier].
“The wording that was used to describe the flag and what it represented was really ignorant and really biased,” she told The Post.
Timbro said the support for the council members who backed the flag’s flying has been tremendous.
“My phone has been blowing up since the council meeting Monday night,’’ she said. “I think it speaks volumes.
“I’ve gotten text messages from people I’ve gone to high school with who I haven’t talked to in years thanking me for my vote.’’
Neighbors of the Pelletiers were in mourning over the trooper’s death — and bashed the Wethersfield council’s flag-ban.
“I think it’s a shame. It’s dishonorable to [Aaron], the family and state troopers,” resident Rose Summa, a retired insurance-industry worker in her 60s, told The Post.
“I go by their house, and I’m so heartbroken for them,” she said of the family.
Rose’s husband, Richard, added, “[Wethersfield] should put the flag up.
“Everyone is probably saying the same thing,” said the local, whose home had a wooden sign out front reading, “Dominique & Family, love and prayers. RIP TR: Aaron # 536,” referring to the dead cop’s badge number.
“I think that [“thin blue line”] flag is more important than the gay pride flag, myself,” Richard said.
Even US Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas weighed in on the controversy.
“This is ridiculous,” the Republican wrote Thursday while retweeting a post from the Libs of TikTok account that slammed the Wethersfield council’s move.
The Libs of TikTok posting read, “Unfreakingbelievable.
“Democrats in CT voted against flying the American blue line flag to honor fallen officer Aaron Pelletier who was kiIIed in the line of duty. Instead they flew the pride flag at half staff to honor him. The pride flag. I have no words. This is disgraceful.”
Additional reporting by Caitlin McCormack, Kathleen Cremins and Hannah Fierick
