Protest Sign"That doesn't need to happen any day, but especially on a day like this."-- Jared Dailey, Sept. 13, 2001 
The events of September 11, 2001, affected most of us but in different ways. As was evident in our neighborhoods and communities across the nation, patriotism swelled to new heights. Flags were flown, banners made, and fundraising initiatives begun; people banded together in an effort to help September 11 victims and to show others that Americans are not bad people. On September 12, 2001, Jared Dailey saw members of Reverend Fred Phelps Sr.'s Westboro Baptist Church picketing near his home in Topeka (Phelps is notorious for an anti-homosexual campaign which he has carried on in Kansas and other states since 1991). As had become common, members of the group were flying the American flag upside down and displaying signs proclaiming, "God Hates America." This was too much for 19 year-old Jared, who said he was raised to be patriotic and supportive of the United States. Compelled to react to Phelps' message, Jared created his own sign from plywood. He began his protest alone on Wednesday, September 12, in front of Phelps' home. Jared's efforts quickly gathered more supporters. By Thursday evening, 86 people stood alongside Jared to protest the Phelps family and other members of the Westboro Baptist Church. (See photo at bottom, right, from the Topeka Capital-Journal, Sept. 14, 2001). Fred Phelps, Sr., explained his position in the Topeka Capital-Journal on September 13. Flag protocol states that an upside-down flag is a signal of distress. Phelps believes the United States is in distress because the nation has been overcome by sin. Furthermore, he argues, the events of September 11 are proof that God hates America. The tragedies are, in Phelps' opinion, "a direct, immediate stroke of judgment and vengeance from the Lord God because this nation has spit in his face." 
In another Capital-Journal article dated September 24, 2001, Jared said of his actions, "I think it's what everybody's been thinking. I just went ahead and did it." They often counter-picket the Phelps contingent at events. Referring to Jared and his supporters, Phelps has stated that people like them are "just as surely going to hell now as if they were already walking the sulfur streets." Jared left for Army boot camp training in January of 2002. Although he said he had intended to enlist before September 11, recent events sped up his decision. Jared's sign was collected as part of the Kansas Historical Society's Kansas Remembers Project, an initiative that seeks to add to the collections artifacts and documents related to the tragic events of September 11 and its aftermath. The sign is part of the collections of the Kansas Museum of History.
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