Josef Miles, only nine, decided to hold a counter-protest against picketers from the Westboro Baptist Church this past weekend. Miles and his mother, Patty Akrouche, were wandering around the Washburn University campus, which is in Topeka, Kansas, this past Saturday. This is when they noticed a group of people from the Westboro Baptist Church protesting with signs. The group is known for using protest signs featuring the phrases of “God hates fags” and “Thank God for dead soldiers.”
When Miles read some of the slogans on their signs he asked his mother if he could make a sign of his own. Of course, his mother said yes. Miles used a sketch pad to write his slogan with a pencil. His slogan said, ‘God Hates No One.’
On Akrouche’s Facebook page, she wrote about the incident and her son saying Miles is “a wonderful young person [who she enjoys] learning from every day.”
“He’s growing up to be a fine young man. I got my Mother’s Day gift a day early.”
The Anti-Defamation League describes the Westboro Baptist Church as a ‘homophobic and anti-Semitic hate group.’ The group routinely protests all around the country, most notably at the funerals for U.S. servicemen and servicewomen.