{"id":5079,"date":"2024-07-06T22:42:53","date_gmt":"2024-07-06T22:42:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/?p=5079"},"modified":"2024-07-06T22:42:54","modified_gmt":"2024-07-06T22:42:54","slug":"veteran-who-beheaded-satan-statue-urges-americans-to-embrace-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/?p=5079","title":{"rendered":"Veteran who beheaded Satan statue urges Americans to embrace Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"8b6f096671da924326c04f02653a866c\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:0px 0 0px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<!-- Composite Start -->\r\n<div id=\"M935653ScriptRootC1574480\"><\/div>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/jsc.adskeeper.com\/f\/i\/findnews5.com.1574480.js\" async><\/script>\r\n<!-- Composite End -->\n<\/div>\n\n<p>An ex-Navy pilot caused a stir when he decapitated a goat-headed installation organized by the local Satanic Temple at the Iowa State Capitol. Michael Cassidy, a \u201cconservative Christian\u201d from Mississippi, said he was \u201coffended\u201d by the Baphomet altar and responded by taking its head. Cassidy encourages people to defy \u201csuch darkness\u201d and instead \u201cembrace Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In December 2023, Cassidy, a former Republican candidate, walked into the Iowa State Capitol and was surprised the legislature allowed the Satanic Temple to display Baphomet. He described it as a \u201cblasphemous statue\u201d and was driven by \u201crighteous indignation\u201d to \u201ctear [the head] off\u201d and put it in a garbage bag. Cassidy then took the head to security and received a citation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mortimer Adramelech, a minister with the Satanic Temple of Iowa, explained, \u201cAll religions have equal rights in the public forum under the First Amendment.\u201d The Iowa Department of Administrative Services confirmed the group met the application requirements for the display. Cassidy was initially charged with third-degree criminal mischief, a felony under Iowa\u2019s hate crime statutes. However, in May 2024, the felony charges were dropped, and Cassidy received a misdemeanor judgment, resulting in a fine with no jail time. He tweeted, \u201cNot today, Satan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Opinions on Cassidy\u2019s actions were divided. Some condemned it as a \u201chate crime,\u201d comparing it to spray-painting \u201ca swastika on the wall of a synagogue.\u201d Others praised Cassidy for taking a stand, with one netizen writing, \u201cIt is time for us to take a stand against these kinds of symbols. Bravo sir\u2026May you be exonerated and walk away a free citizen.\u201d Cassidy, speaking with the Christian Broadcasting Network, noted the mixed feedback: \u201cSome anonymous voices have applauded my firm stance against Satanism, recognizing the degradation in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An ex-Navy pilot caused a stir when he decapitated a goat-headed installation organized by the local Satanic Temple at the Iowa State Capitol. Michael Cassidy, a \u201cconservative&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5081,"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5079\/revisions\/5081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/findnews5.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}