This is good to see. An Iowa man who vandalized a religious display set up by The Satanic Temple at the Iowa State Capitol has been charged with a hate crime. That is exactly how hate crime laws are supposed to work, and why we have them.
A man who attacked and beheaded a permitted statue put up by the Satanic Temple at Iowa’s Capitol in December has been charged with a felony under the state’s hate crime statutes, the prosecutor’s office said this week. Michael Cassidy, who was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Mississippi’s state House of Representatives, is charged with third-degree criminal mischief in violation of individual rights, the Polk County Attorney’s Office said Tuesday.
This probably doesn't mean much coming from me as I've been very open about my progressive politics, but I always find it amazing that Republicans will go on and on and on about freedom until it means freedom for somebody they don't like. Freedom of religion is a basic concept enshrined by the United States Constitution, and it means that it is totally unconstitutional and thus illegal to persecute minority religions. There is no way you can read the actual text honestly and come away with the impression that the intent is to give any particular religion special rights and privileges above all the others.
“Evidence shows the defendant made statements to law enforcement and the public indicating he destroyed the property because of the victim’s religion,” the prosecutor’s office said. Cassidy, 36, had been charged with a misdemeanor. The enhanced charge is a class D felony under Iowa’s hate crime statutes. Cassidy, of Lauderdale, ran for Mississippi State House District 45 as a Republican but was defeated in November by Democrat Keith Jackson by 55% to 38%. His campaign biography describes him as a former Navy pilot and “a Christian conservative who loves our nation.”
Cassidy appeared on Fox News days after he beheaded the statue and called it “Christian civil disobedience.” He said he went to the Capitol and “nobody was there, and it offended me. It touched a nerve. It was, you know, righteous indignation.” Cassidy said on Fox News that he “pulled his head off,” referring to the display of Baphomet.
So basically Cassidy is claiming that he should have the right to persecute members of any religion that offends him. I'm sure parts of his religion are offensive to my beliefs too, but I don't go around vandalizing his religious displays. All it requires is some basic emotional maturity.
Minister Mortimer Adramelech of the Satanic Temple of Iowa told NBC affiliate WHO of Des Moines at the time of the vandalism that the display was there for the holidays. The Iowa Department of Administrative Services said the group met the application requirements for the display. “All religions have equal rights in the public forum under the First Amendment of the Constitution. As Americans we have every right to be here just like anyone else,” Adramelech told the station.
The Satanic Temple started its campaign of placing religious displays at State Capitols in response to a Christian movement to place promotional statues created for the film The Ten Commandmants at statehouses. The goal of this was clearly to privilege Christianity over other religions in the public square. Courts repeatedly have ruled that the displays can go up in public spaces so long as all other religions have the same rights to display their own symbols.
The Satanic Temple has gone on record stating that their preference would be to have no religious monuments on state property, as the United States is a secular, pluralistic nation. Personally, though, I actually like the idea of every religion out there having the right to put up their own displays. I'm perfectly fine with a celebration of our nation's many different religious groups, highlighting the secular laws that allow all of them to coexist peacefully - at least until some asshole like Cassidy comes around.
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