A controversial ad was posted in four Metro stations under court order Monday, but within hours one had already been covered with yellow Post-it notes giving an alternative message to the ad, which equated Muslims with savages.

Debbie Polhemus, of D.C., covered up the letters of the ad, which read “In Any War Between the Civilized Man and the Savage, Support the Civilized Man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”

The high school teacher said she wanted to counteract the American Freedom Defense Initiative’s right to free speech with her own right to free speech, all without actually defacing the sign. “This is a public space, and we don’t like hate speech,” she told The Washington Examiner. “And not to do anything would be to allow this speech. … It would be hurtful.”

Her message at the Takoma Metro station on the Red Line instead included: “If you see something hateful say something peaceful.”

Washington Examiner, 8 October 2012

See also “No charges for teacher who covered up anti-Muslim ads on D.C. Metro”, dcist.com, 9 October 2012