An American navy veteran has been charged after destroying a statue that The Satanic Temple had been given permission to set up inside the Iowa State Capitol.
35-year-old Michael Cassidy who is a Christian and a former congressional candidate from the state of Mississippi has been charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief for pushing the statue over and throwing its head in the rubbish. The offence carries a sentence of up to one year in prison and a A$4,000 fine. He could also face further charges and has already fund-raised around A$100,000 to cover his legal costs.
Mr. Cassidy explained he was outraged when he saw what he considered the “blasphemous” statue of the pagan idol Baphomet complete with goat’s head and altar, on display in the rotunda foyer of the Iowa State Capitol building. “My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree, so I acted,” he told conservative website The Sentinel.
“The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimisation of Satan, but none of the founders would have considered government sanction of satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment,” he added.
The installation was permitted under state rules allowing religious displays in the Capitol building during holiday periods in the strongly Republican state. Iowa lawmakers were reluctant to remove the statue despite considering it to be “offensive and grotesque,” because it was a protected form of free speech. In 2019, the federal government gave The Satanic Temple tax-exempt status, just like a church.
GOP State representative Jon Dunwell explained that while he personally found the display altar “objectionable,” he did not believe it’s the government’s job to dictate which religion can be represented in the Capitol. “For me, I would rather have an evil, blasphemous display or no display at all than have the state dictate what they think is appropriate,” he told The Christian Post.
By contrast another Republican lawmaker Brad Sherman argued that the statue was “in direct contradiction to the 1857 Iowa Constitution which set the state apart unto God, acknowledged its dependence on Him, and asked for His blessing. Any legal argument that would equate worship of Satan and God was therefore twisted and tortured.” Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds also found the installation “objectionable,” but declared the best response was to speak out and pray against it.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis pledged to support Mr. Cassidy’s legal defence. “Satan has no place in our society and should not be recognised as a ‘religion’ by the federal government. Good prevails over evil — that’s the American spirit,” Governor DeSantis tweeted. Other leading US conservative figures including Daily Wire host Matt Walsh and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, also pledged to support Mr. Cassidy’s defence fund.
His attorney Davis Younts told The Sentinel that his client took action against the display because he “was motivated by his faith to peacefully protest a display that is a direct affront to God” after elected leaders and others were “unwilling to act.” He added that: “It is my hope that the citation will be dismissed when my client’s actions are understood and that he will not face prosecution because of his faith.”
