Local and federal investigators are investigating a possible bombing of a Satanic temple in the town of Salem, Massachusetts.
Police reported that an unknown person threw an explosive onto the porch of the building around 4:15 a.m. Monday.
It took almost 12 hours before anyone finally discovered the damage, as no one was in the building at the time.
Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for the temple, says it was an act of terrorism.
“It cannot be emphasized enough that this is undoubtedly a horrific act of attempted terrorism and people could be harmed,” he said.
Local and federal investigators are investigating a possible bombing of a Satanic temple in the town of Salem, Massachusetts.
“We are confident they will locate the perpetrator soon,” he told WHDH.
In an interview with the Boston Globe, he said he actually showed a couple around the building before the explosive was discovered.
“We came in from the back and did the whole tour, and the whole time, on the front deck, I guess, there was this bomb,” Greaves said.
State bomb technicians and K9s swept the building to ensure the bomb was no longer capable of causing damage and that there were no other explosives at the scene, according to CBS Boston.
Authorities declared the investigation complete around 7:15 p.m., saying the threat had been contained.
The temple has faced multiple threats over the past two years, including a Michigan man arrested in January for a planned attack and a suspected arson in 2022.
The Satanic Temple opened in the notoriously spooky city in 2016, pledging to “fight a perceived intrusion of Christian values into American politics” with more zeal than worshiping Satan.
She is not associated with the 1960s Church of Satan founded by Anton LeVay.
Its mission, according to their website, is: “to encourage kindness and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice, and undertake noble activities.” »
Police reported that an unknown person threw an explosive onto the porch of the building around 4:15 a.m. Monday. It took almost 12 hours before someone finally discovered the damage caused, as no one was in the building at the time.
Local and federal investigators are investigating a possible bombing of a Satanic temple in the town of Salem, Massachusetts.
Lucien Greaves, co-founder and spokesperson for the temple, says it was an act of terrorism.
“We find real power in the mythology of Satan, but from a perspective in which Satan is the ultimate rebel against tyranny,” Greaves said Monday.
An LGBTQ+ pride flag is prominently displayed on the same porch where the explosive was thrown.
The new headquarters is housed in a Victorian-style house less than a mile from Gallows Hill, the site where villagers executed more than a dozen people suspected of witchcraft.
“The history of Salem is also part of the history of Satanism,” the organization’s spokesperson, Greaves, told DailyMail.com at the time of its opening.
In 2019, the Satanic Temple was granted tax-exempt status under Section 501(c), placing it in the same category as major religions such as Catholicism and organizations such as the Army. Hi.
The recognition means the temple, which has 16 chapters in the United States and thousands of followers worldwide, can apply for certain federal grants.
Anyone who donates money to the group can also deduct it for tax purposes.
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