Staff turning up to the Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts, found the building had been damaged by fire the night before. No-one was hurt and bomb technicians confirmed the device was no longer dangerous, reports the Associated Press, but it's not the first time the building has been targeted.
In 2022, a man pleaded not guilty to arson, destruction of a place of worship and civil rights violation charges after he was accused of setting fire to the building. … Founded in 2013, the Salem, Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple says it doesn't believe in Satan but describes itself as a "non-theistic religious organization" that advocates for secularism. It is separate from the Church of Satan, which was founded in the 1960s.
Michael Cassidy, 35, was recently charged with a hate crime after destroying a statute of a pagan idol at Iowa's state Capitol, placed there there by the Satanic Temple of Iowa after it began allowing religious displays in the building.
