Editor's Note: The Sentinel continues to host a fundraiser for the legal defense of Michael Cassidy ahead of his additional legal proceedings.

Michael Cassidy, the conservative Christian former military officer who tore down a Satanic altar erected in the Iowa Capitol, faces a hearing next week to dismiss the hate crime charges that were filed against him by a radical progressive Soros-funded prosecutor.

Members of the Satanic Temple of Iowa received permission in the weeks before Christmas to install the altar, which included a statue depicting the idol Baphomet holding a pentacle and surrounded by candles, on the first floor of the Iowa Capitol near displays of the Nativity. Cassidy pushed over and decapitated the statue, as first reported by The Sentinel, before he discarded the head of the idol in a trash can and surrendered himself to security officers.

Cassidy was originally charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief, which was later enhanced to third-degree criminal mischief “in violation of individual rights” by Polk County Democratic Attorney Kimberly Graham, meaning the former Navy pilot and Mississippi resident faces five years in prison. Yet Graham has received over $300,000 in campaign contributions from the Justice and Public Safety PAC, an entity funded by progressive billionaire George Soros.

Graham campaigned on decreasing racial disparities in prosecution and has since introduced drug diversion programs during her first year in office. The official has voiced numerous leftist views on social media: she wished that George Floyd would “rest in power” on the day police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted, as well as claimed that crime prevention involves “tackling environmental racism” and said that “cash bail makes our communities less safe.”

The dozens of prosecutors across the nation bankrolled by Soros have faced criticism for pursuing politically charged cases against conservatives even as they neglect to prosecute violent criminal offenses, refuse to ask for bail, and otherwise fail to crack down on crime.

Davis Younts, an attorney and retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who represents Cassidy, said in an interview with The Sentinel that the hate crime charges are “an obvious attempt to force a far-left perspective, backed by George Soros no less, on America's evangelical heartland."

“After accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars from George Soros, Iowa prosecutor Kimberly Graham is now pushing what appears to be a politically motivated 'hate crime' enhancement in a conservative-leaning midwestern state,” Younts commented. “Next week's hearing is a blatant effort to teach Christians and conservatives a lesson: stand up to what Americans have always seen as evil and you'll suffer serious consequences.”

Attorneys for Cassidy submitted a motion to dismiss the enhancements on the basis that the Satanic Temple of Iowa is neither a person nor a legitimate religion under Iowa law. Younts told The Sentinel that an April 17 hearing is scheduled for their motion, adding that the hate crime charges will drastically increase the stakes of the tentative May 6 trial if they are not dismissed.

“The addition of a hate crime enhancement means that our client is facing the possibility of a felony conviction,” Younts told The Sentinel. “We believe that the application of the enhancement is not appropriate in this case.”

The motion, a copy of which was shared with The Sentinel, indeed contended that the “violation of individual rights” statute in Iowa only “applies to human beings and is meant to protect human beings and their personal rights,” while the Satanic Temple of Iowa cannot be properly considered a religion since the group, in their own words, does not promote “a belief in a personal Satan” and does not “worship Satan.”

Attorneys also challenged the legitimacy of the Iowa hate crime laws since they modify “the very nature of the crime because of what a criminal defendant allegedly thought.”

Cassidy previously said in a statement to The Sentinel that he destroyed the shrine in order to “awaken Christians to the anti-Christian acts promoted by our government.”

“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 remarked.