UPDATE (May 27): Michael Cassidy has been cleared of hate crime charges and no longer faces prison time. This campaign will remain open to assist with anticipated legal expenses related to his employment with the United States Navy, while any excess funds raised will benefit other Christian veterans in similar legal trouble through a nonprofit called Stand With Warriors.

UPDATE (January 31): Michael Cassidy has been charged with a hate crime by prosecutors and now faces five years in prison. This campaign will remain open to assist with his legal defense.

UPDATE (December 15): Michael Cassidy has been notified of an additional investigation related to him tearing down and beheading the Satanic altar in the Iowa State Capitol. This campaign raised the approximately $20,000 initially needed for his legal defense in less than three hours and so was paused on the evening of December 14, but his attorneys will challenge the investigation and now anticipate much higher expenses. His legal team believes it is not yet appropriate to reveal details of the investigation. In the event that excess funds are raised, they will be forwarded at the discretion of Cassidy to a nonprofit that helps Christian service members in similar situations.

Michael Cassidy, a Christian and former military officer, tore down and beheaded a Satanist altar erected in the Iowa State Capitol. Now he is facing charges, and he anticipates legal defense fees of approximately $20,000.

Members at the Satanic Temple of Iowa installed a statue depicting the idol Baphomet holding a pentacle and surrounded by candles in the Iowa Capitol near displays of the Nativity. Cassidy, a conservative Christian, finally had enough: he pushed over and decapitated this Satanic statue before he discarded the head in a trash can.

Cassidy faces a charge for fourth-degree criminal mischief, and he anticipates legal defense fees of approximately $20,000. Attorney Davis Younts, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who defended military service members from Biden vaccine mandates, is assisting in his defense.

Out of the millions of Christians in this nation, Cassidy was the first to act in bravery and conviction. He was not willing to see God reviled, especially in a building where lawmakers are supposed to honor Jesus Christ as King and look to his law for wisdom as they legislate with justice and righteousness.

Cassidy said in an interview with The Sentinel: "I saw this blasphemous statue and was outraged. My conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted."

Help this conservative Christian, a man of courage in an age of cowardice, defend himself in court!