Explosive device thrown on porch of satanic temple in Massachusetts, no injuries reported

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Someone threw an explosive device onto the porch of the Satanic Temple in Massachusetts at a time when no one was inside, and the device and the damage it caused did not. They were found almost 12 hours later, police said. No injuries were reported.

State police bomb disposal technicians ensured the device no longer posed a danger, police said in a news release Monday. Police dogs swept the scene for other devices and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is assisting in the investigation.

The device was thrown onto the porch around 4:14 a.m. Monday and was not discovered until staff arrived around 4 p.m., police said.

Police did not provide details of the damage.

Police have been to the temple before for bomb threats and hate crimes. In 2022, a man pleaded not guilty to arson, destruction of a place of worship, and civil rights violation after being accused of setting the building on fire.

In January, a man was charged with a hate crime, accused of destroying a statue of a pagan idol at the Iowa State Capitol. He was brought there by the Satanic Temple of Iowa, under state rules allowing religious events in the building during holidays.

Founded in 2013, the Satanic Temple based in Salem, Massachusetts, says it does not believe in Satan, but describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organization” that advocates secularism. It is distinct from the Church of Satan, founded in the 1960s.