A man named Michael Cassidy decided to take matters into his own hands Thursday when he reportedly “beheaded” the Satanic Temple of Iowa’s display inside the Iowa Capitol.
The display had sparked a wide range of reactions from Iowans, as Gov. Kim Reynolds called for prayer in response and noted that the best response to objectionable speech is more speech. State Rep. Brad Sherman called for the display to be removed.
Cassidy, who ran for Congress in Mississippi last year, describes himself as a Christian, test pilot, Navy Reserve instructor pilot and America First conservative in his Twitter bio.
On Thursday evening, Cassidy shared the following Bible verse from 1 Peter 5:8:
“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”
Shortly after news broke of his action, an effort was started to raise money for his legal defense fund. Within hours it had hit its goal of $20,000.
“Overwhelmed by the support I’ve received so far,” Cassidy wrote on Twitter as he confirmed the GiveSendGo link was legitimate.
He later added that he directed the campaign to pause after it raised the $20,000.
Charlie Kirk posted that Turning Point USA was proud to pledge $10,000 to Cassidy’s legal defense fund.
Journalist Jack Posobiec tagged Reynolds in a post, asking if she would issue a pardon of Cassidy.
“If not, we’ll be calling tomorrow, to make sure the message gets to you,” he wrote.
According to the Republic Sentinel, Cassidy pushed over and decapitated the statue before discarding the head of Baphomet into a trash can.
Cassidy provided the following comments to the Republic Sentinel:
“The world may tell Christians to submissively accept the legitimization of Satan, but none of the founders would have considered government sanction of Satanic altars inside Capitol buildings as protected by the First Amendment. Anti-Christian values have steadily been mainstreamed more and more in recent decades, and Christians have largely acted like the proverbial frog in the boiling pot of water.”
CNN featured the incident:
Watch TST Co-founder and Spokesperson @LucienGreaves on CNN NewsNight With Abby Phillip discuss the attack on TST Iowa's holiday display, Gov. DeSantis' comments on our religious status, and more.
Stay tuned for more on the attack on TST Iowa's holiday display.
[Part 1] pic.twitter.com/4n24TcK18t
— The Satanic Temple (@satanic_temple_) December 15, 2023
