LOCAL

Young boy stages WBC counter-protest

The Capital-Journal

Nine-year-old Josef Miles felt the urge to make his own counter-protest sign upon encountering protestors from the Westboro Baptist Church during Graduation Day activities Saturday on the Washburn University campus. Securing a small sketchpad and pencil from his mother, he created his own sign that read simply, "God Hates No One."

The way Patty Akrouche tells the story, her Mother’s Day gift arrived a day early Saturday when her young son mounted a quiet counter-protest to the pickets of the Westboro Baptist Church.

Nine-year-old Josef Miles and his mother were walking around the Washburn University campus Saturday, which was Graduation Day on campus. As they returned to the area where they had parked their car, they couldn’t help but notice the WBC protesters picketing in an area where they had an audience.

After reading WBC signs proclaiming God’s hatred for homosexuals and other assorted groups, Josef asked Akrouche if he could create his own sign proclaiming his different view of God’s outlook.

His sign, written in pencil on a small sketchpad, read simply, “God Hates No One.”

“He’s growing up to be a fine young man,” his mother said in recalling the story. “I got my Mother’s Day gift a day early.”