The Christian military veteran who dispatched a satanic display in Iowa’s state capitol to the trash bin of history may not end up in jail on supposed “hate crime” charges.
According to the conservative website Trending Politics, the lawyer for Navy veteran Michael Cassidy on Friday filed a guilty plea on his behalf in exchange for a deal that keeps him from going on trial or to jail.
Cassidy pleaded guilty to one aggravated misdemeanor count of third-degree criminal mischief. Accordingly, he will receive a deferred judgment with two years’ probation, pay an $855 fine, and pay restitution in an amount to be determined later.
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He must also participate, if requested, in a “victim-offender dialogue” with the owners of the display, the Satanic Temple.
The deal still must be approved by a judge. Cassidy was set to go on trial next week.
His lawyer, Sara Pasquale, praised the outcome amid concern prosecutors were targeting her client for his religious beliefs, according to the Des Moines Register.
“We have continually contested the hate crime and questioned whether Mr. Cassidy was being targeted due to his religious beliefs,” she told the Register.
“We are therefore very pleased that the state ultimately decided to drop the hate crime and are hopeful that this case will bring awareness to similar situations throughout the country.”
After Cassidy attacked the statue on Dec. 14, it was “destroyed beyond repair,” the Satanic Temple claimed.
Read: The Satanic Temple Vs. Florida Gov. DeSantis: A Debate On Religious Freedoms
Cassidy acknowledged his actions and submitted to arresting officers.
“I saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged,” Cassidy said at the time. “My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted.”
As the Tampa Free Press reported, he was originally charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, which could have meant a sentence of a year in jail and a $2,560 fine.
A month later, however, prosecutors upgraded that to felony third-degree criminal mischief and classified it as a “hate crime.” That would have brought an even stiffer sentence upon conviction.
Prosecutors said they did so because Cassidy publicly admitted he bashed the statue, which they claimed was destroyed because of the “victim’s religion.”
“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,” Cassidy told the conservative magazine Human Events.
Read: Iowa Senator Offers Novel Defense Of Vet Accused In Satan-Smashing Case
Cassidy’s case drew national attention, including from Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who was running for president at the time. DeSantis offered to kick into Cassidy’s legal defense fund, which eventually raised $125,000.
“Satan has no place in our society and should not be recognized as a ‘religion’ by the federal government,” DeSantis said in December. “I’ll chip in to contribute to this veteran’s legal defense fund. Good prevails over evil — that’s the American spirit.”
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