Michael Cassidy stated that his Christian religion compelled him to destroy the “blasphemous” effigy
A failed Republican Congressional candidate from Mississippi has been charged with legal mischief for destroying a statue of the pagan idol Baphomet within the Iowa State Capitol. Satanists argue that their symbols are protected by the US Structure.
Michael Cassidy of Lauderdale, Mississippi, was arrested on Thursday and charged with fourth-degree legal mischief after he beheaded and toppled the goat-headed effigy, the Iowa Division of Public Security stated on Friday. He faces a most sentence of 1 yr in jail and a $2,560 nice if convicted.
Clad in a crimson gown and surrounded by prayer candles, the statue depicted a determine with a person’s physique and a horned goat’s head holding a wicker pentacle. Baphomet is usually related to occultism and Satanism, and the show was erected by the Satanic Temple, a registered spiritual group that took benefit of state guidelines permitting completely different religions to show their symbols within the capitol over the Christmas interval.
“I noticed this blasphemous statue and was outraged,” Cassidy instructed The Sentinel, a conservative information website. “The world might inform Christians to submissively settle for the legitimization of Devil, however not one of the founders would have thought of authorities sanction of Satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Modification.”
“My conscience is held captive to the phrase of God, to not bureaucratic decree. And so I acted,” he stated.
Republican lawmakers and Christian activists had known as for the statue’s removing earlier than it was destroyed, however Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds,a Republican, insisted that she was sure by the US Structure to go away it in place.
“Like many Iowans, I discover the Satanic Temple’s show within the Capitol completely objectionable,” Reynolds stated in an announcement on Tuesday. “In a free society, one of the best response to objectionable speech is extra speech, and I encourage all these of religion to affix me at the moment in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the Nativity scene that shall be on show ― the true cause for the season.”
Though the Satanic Temple is a registered spiritual group, it doesn’t promote the worship of deities similar to Baphomet. Its members are principally atheists who marketing campaign for secular authorities, and for liberal causes similar to abortion and LGBT rights.
Cassidy ran a major marketing campaign towards US Consultant Michael Visitor in 2022, and got here inside 300 votes of beating the incumbent Republican. A runoff election was then triggered, which Visitor gained with 70% of the vote. Based on his marketing campaign web site, Cassidy served as a fighter pilot within the US Navy and is a “Christian conservative who loves our nation and is dedicated to preserving the blessings of liberty bestowed upon us by the Founding era.”
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