By Max Broennle | FāVS News Reporter
The We Are Getting Screwed (WAGS) political organization used the Lenten season to unveil two new billboards this week by tagging them with Scripture.
Placed in Spokane Valley and northern Spokane, they depict a political cartoon of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent pointing a gun at a cowering mother and her child with the tagline: Matthew 25:40, “As you do to the least of these.”
“Lent is the time where we are called to look deeply at ourselves and the actions that we have taken that separate us from our relationship with God and to turn around; repent,” said the Rev. Gen Heywood, convener of Faith Leaders and Leaders of Conscience in Eastern Washington and North Idaho (FLLC) and WAGS’ faith consultant.
Petra Hoy, Randy Michaelis and Rod Michaelis formed WAGS “in an effort to counter the messaging and policies coming from the current administration,” according to their press release. This was after Randy and Rod Michaelis were protesting and felt the need to go bigger.
WAGS released this image before Lent, which begins Feb. 18, to emphasize repentance and spiritual growth in the context of ICE agents actions.
This is their first billboard addressing ICE’s increased action and violence across the U.S.
“It’s not, in my mind, about border security. It’s the way the immigrants are being treated and the cruelty in which this is being carried out and the complete indifference to the humanity of these people. And as a Christian, that bothers me,” said Randy Michaelis.
While Heywood was in Minneapolis to photograph the protests following the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, she said how she wore a sign across her backpack that read “‘ICE, repent and be saved.”’
“It’s humanity for both sides,” said Heywood. “This, I hope, will get past the barriers of people — of all people — faith or no faith, to say ‘yeah, some things there’s not a middle ground.’”
The WAGS’ team feels the Scripture they chose to caption the image sends a clear message to Christians who are “not necessarily paying attention,” Hoy said.
The billboards released Monday are on the corner of Sullivan and Broadway and North Nevada Street and East Francis Avenue.
WAGS’ first billboard went up on Sep. 29, and they now have five billboards around Spokane with various designs by Milt Priggee, a former cartoonist for The Spokesman-Review.
The other political cartoons around town show characters who represent the average person being bombarded by an avalanche labeled “GOP healthcare cuts,” with another showing a shark ready to pounce on a lonesome sailor with the caption “cost of living.”
WAGS’ goal, according to their website, is to reach three main groups of people: people who didn’t vote in the last presidential election, those who regret their vote in the 2026 election and people who have been affected by the Trump administration’s actions within the last year.
“We’re trying to remind folks that how we treat others is, ultimately, and according to his words, how we treat Christ,” said Randy Michaelis. “The top two things is the love of the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your might and all your soul and to love your neighbor as yourself. And these are the two things that he puts out over and over again as the Great Commandments.”
Another way they’re spreading their message is through the group called the Eastside Gladiators, which Hoy leads, to keep people up to date on political news, specifically in the Spokane area.
WAGS is looking to continue putting up more billboards around Spokane and are accepting donations from those who want to support the cause.
Hoy doesn’t think these billboards are the only way WAGS will be able to change hearts.
“We can defrost their hearts a little bit with the help of the Holy Spirit,” Hoy said.
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