Christian Man Who Destroyed Satanic Altar in Iowa Capitol Takes Plea Deal to Avoid Hate Crime Charge

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
May. 24, 2024

Michael Cassidy, a Christian veteran who destroyed a Satanic altar erected in the Iowa Capitol last year, pleaded guilty on Friday "to a reduced charge in return for prosecutors dropping a felony hate crime count," the AP reports.

From the AP, "Mississippi man accused of destroying statue of pagan idol at Iowa state Capitol takes plea deal":

Michael Cassidy, a former congressional and legislative candidate, was set for trial June 3, but his attorney filed a guilty plea on his behalf to an aggravated misdemeanor count of third-degree criminal mischief, the Des Moines Register reported. Cassidy admitted in writing that he "partially dismantled a display in the Iowa State Capitol Building, without a right/license to do so," and that the damage was greater than $750.

The statue of the horned deity Baphomet was brought to the Capitol by the Satanic Temple of Iowa under state rules allowing religious displays in the building during the holidays. [...]

The plea agreement calls for Cassidy to receive a deferred judgment with two years probation, an $855 civil penalty, and to pay restitution in an amount to be determined. He would also be required to participate in a victim-offender dialogue with representatives of the Satanic Temple if requested. The sentencing recommendation is not binding on the court, however.

There is no way that pile of trash was worth over $750.

Regardless, Cassidy was basically forced into pleading guilty because Democrat Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham vindictively overcharged him.

"In her campaign for county attorney, [Graham] promised improvements in the juvenile justice system and much broader changes, including ending low-level marijuana prosecutions, no longer requiring cash bail for many nonviolent offenders, and addressing racial and income disparities in criminal prosecutions and sentencings," The Des Moines Register reported in Nov 2022.

"We started this campaign to end racial and income disparities in the justice system and create a healthy, safer, thriving Polk County, and so we will," Graham, who focused her campaign on fairness and equity, said at the time.

Letting thugs off easy and overcharging white Christians is presumably how she's working to close the black-white arrest gap and bring about "equity."

Baltimore Police officer Michael Wood Jr. openly admits to targeting white people and locking them up to “balance out the numbers”.

In fact, @joerogan and him get a good laugh out of it. So much for justice. Fuck both of them. pic.twitter.com/u58qjumONw
— rightwingsavages (@rtwngsavages) April 24, 2021

Follow InformationLiberation on Twitter, Facebook, Gab, Minds and Telegram.