Satanists erected a satanic display in the Minnesota Capitol in St. Paul last week, prompting outrage and accusations that the state’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz should do more to prevent such displays.
“Thanks to all the hard work from our Congregation, especially Calcifer, for helping us set up Minnesota Satanists’ first-ever holiday display at the state Capitol in Saint Paul!” a group called Minnesota Satanists wrote in a Facebook post celebrating their display. “HAIL RELIGIOUS PLURALITY!!! HAIL SATAN!!!”
The display features a phoenix, an inverted pentagram and the text of The Mass of the Phoenix, which is a ritual that featured in the work of famous British occultist Aleister Crowley.
Minnesota Satanists is a group that was first given affiliation as a chapter of The Satanic Temple in 2019 but broke off from them earlier this year to become their own organization, according to their website.
Minnesota satanists say they have set up their "first ever holiday display" at the Minnesota Capitol Building pic.twitter.com/RECUQ3cQEK
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) December 15, 2024
The phoenix statue drew criticism from some Republican state legislators, such as state Rep. Tom Emmer, who blamed Walz for allowing it, as noted by Newsweek.
“Is there anything Tim Walz won’t do to insult Minnesotans?” Emmer tweeted.
State Rep. Pete Stauber, also a Republican, tweeted, “When you get a DFL [Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party] trifecta, you get a Satanic display at our state Capitol. During the holidays… what a disgrace. Only in Walz’s Minnesota.”
Walz has yet to make any public comments about the display.
News of the satanic display inside the Minnesota Capitol comes a week after a similar display was destroyed outside the New Hampshire state House less than 48 hours after it was put up.
The statue in New Hampshire depicted a black-clad figure of the demon Baphomet with glowing eyes clutching a bouquet of purple lilacs in its right hand, which symbolized the state flower of New Hampshire.
It was also adorned with a purple stole emblazoned with the inverted pentagram, goat’s head of the TST logo, and two inverted crosses.
At the base of the statue was a tablet listing the seven tenets of The Satanic Temple, and to its left was a black and white satanic flag.
The statue was repeatedly vandalized and destroyed last Monday night, prompting an ongoing police investigation.
The city of Concord had released a statement claiming they approved the permit for the statue to “avoid litigation,” though the town’s Democratic Mayor Byron Champlin expressed disapproval of the statue during a city council meeting, according to New Hampshire Public Radio.
