Flag Feud Erupts in Connecticut House

0:00It's April 21st, you're listening to Hartford News today, AI-powered local news. I'm Cory with the story. In the Connecticut House, a flag few just lit up the chamber. Democratic rep Mariam Khan, born in Pakistan, swapped her U.S. flag for a Pakistani one on her desk. Right away, 18 Republicans fired back by planting small gadsden flags. Those coiled snake ones saying, don't tread on me, right on theirs. Khan made the switch to honor her heritage and citizenship pride, especially after Pakistan held broker a U.S. Iran ceasefire back in early April. She's a teacher who won a special election in 2022 and says the moves no slight to America just limited desk space. Republicans call it uneven rule enforcement on political displays. They pointed times dims crack down, like when a GOP lawmaker got rebuted for a blazer message during the governor's speech. House Minority Leader Benson Candelora says stick to American flags only, no exceptions.

1:01Other flags pop up without drama though. Greek ones for heritage, Irish around St. Patrick's Day, even Puerto Rico, alongside U.S. and state flags for the majority leader. Speaker Matt Ritter's not thrilled, admitting he wasn't elected to hash out deck the core all day. But he's chatting rules with leaders now, so this flap could tighten up what's allowed on those tiny desks.