(The Hill) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said he would support the legal fund of a man who is accused of vandalizing a display by The Satanic Temple inside the Iowa Capitol on Thursday.
Michael Cassidy was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief for knocking over and destroying a statue erected by the temple inside the capitol, The Des Moines Register first reported.
“Satan has no place in our society and should not be recognized as a ‘religion’ by the federal government,” DeSantis said on X, formerly Twitter. “I’ll chip in to contribute to this veteran’s legal defense fund. Good prevails over evil — that’s the American spirit.”
The Satanic Temple display was permitted under Iowa law allowing any religious organization to hold a display inside the Capitol. It consisted of a figure of the demon Baphomet with a bejeweled goat head alongside prayer candles.
The non-theistic religious organization has frequently used satanic imagery to protest laws in the U.S. using religious freedom arguments. Satanists do not literally believe in or pray to a biblical Satan, but they refer to the literary idea of Satan to promote skepticism and curiosity.
“We don’t want to yield some kind of power to the government to begin picking and choosing between religious groups,” Satanic Temple co-founder Lucien Greaves said in a CNN interview Thursday. “People might hate us and people might want to exclude us, but that simply opens the door to more sectarian battles, and it certainly won’t stop there.”
The organization has previously protested religious prayer at schools by organizing after-school Satanist Temple clubs, arguing that its religious beliefs protect the right to abortion access, and chastising religious imagery and phrases in government.
In response to the display, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) chastised the temple but stood by state law allowing its display.
“In a free society, the best response to objectionable speech is more speech, and I encourage all those of faith to join me today in praying over the Capitol and recognizing the Nativity scene that will be on display ― the true reason for the season,” she said in a statement.
Cassidy’s legal defense fund raised more than $20,000 in just its first few hours, Newsweek reported, including $10,000 from conservative activist group Turning Point USA.
Cassidy previously ran for a Mississippi congressional seat in 2022, losing to Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) in the primary by a wide margin.