A Mississippi man charged with destroying an Iowa Capitol display erected by Satanists is arguing in court filings the resulting hate crime charge against him is unconstitutional.
Erected under a policy granting religious groups space in the building for displays during the holiday season, the Satanic Temple of Iowa’s installation centered on a statue of the horned pagan idol Baphomet. Michael Cassidy, a former Republican congressional candidate, admitted to officials that he destroyed the centerpiece on Dec. 14, and later told a conservative website that “my conscience is held captive to the word of God, not to bureaucratic decree. And so I acted.”
Previously: Iowa lawmaker calls for Gov. Kim Reynolds to remove Satanic Temple’s display from Capitol
Cassidy, who has received crowdfunded donations of more than $130,000 for his legal defense, initially was charged with misdemeanor criminal mischief. In January, Polk County prosecutors elevated the charge to a felony under the state’s hate crime statute.
In a filing Friday, defense attorney Sara Pasquale told the court the “violation of individual rights” enhancement is inapplicable to Cassidy’s case, and also is broadly unconstitutional.
The 11-page filing makes several arguments against the enhancement. Pasquale contends the law, which governs crimes motivated by “the person’s (victim’s) race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, age, or disability,” does not apply to damage to a display owned by the Satanic Temple because the organization is a legal entity, not a person, and cannot have a race, sex or disability, or practice a religion.
“It could never be said, save in Wonderland, that Best Buy is Buddhist,” Pasquale wrote.
She further argued that the Satanic Temple is not a religion for purposes of the statute. Religion entails “a system of faith and worship,” Pasquale wrote, citing multiple dictionaries, while the Satanic Temple of Iowa specifically disavows “a belief in a personal Satan.” Pasquale points to comments by a temple leader, quoted in a Dec. 16 Register article, to debunk the “common misconception” that “the Satanic Temple is a theistic religion that worships Satan as an entity.”
“(The Temple’s) own words establish that it is not a religion within the ordinary meaning of religion, as they have no faith, do not worship, and reject the supernatural,” Pasquale wrote. “That they call themselves a religion simply does not make it so.”
The Satanic Temple did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Even if the law were applicable, it would still violate the free speech guarantees of the Iowa and U.S. Constitutions, Pasquale argued, calling prior U.S. and Iowa Supreme Court decisions to the contrary “misguided.”
“Because (the hate crime law) in this case seeks to punish Cassidy’s thoughts, it cannot withstand constitutional muster as it violates the First Amendment which protects ‘the freedom to think,’” she wrote.
Polk County prosecutors have not yet responded to Cassidy’s motion in court. The case is scheduled to go to trial in May.
William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166
COLO — More than a decade into a mysterious epidemic killing off white oak trees, Iowa foresters hope a new test kit will help them quickly screen trees in the field for half the cost of laboratory tests.
Inspired by COVID-19 rapid tests, a Minnesota startup developed a kit that amplifies the DNA of a fungus spreading among oaks weakened by drought. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources hopes to use information gathered from these kits to isolate infected trees and protect others.
“A lot of people are concerned about this white oak decline,” said Tivon Feeley, Forest Health Program leader for the Iowa DNR. Foresters want to know whether they should replant white oaks or choose other species. “Right now, I can’t tell them. (But) this test gives us a lot of tools we can start using.”
Around 2010, foresters across the Midwest started noticing centuries-old white oak trees dying off in just one season and didn’t know why. Oak wilt, a fungal disease spread by insects or through the root systems of infected trees, was a possible culprit, but most foresters hadn’t seen it be so fast or so deadly.
“With this oak decline, we have two to three dead trees almost every other acre,” Amana Society Forester Tim Krauss said in October 2022. “We have to harvest the dead trees because we only have a year until they are no good. We can make our budget by just cutting dead trees. The downside is, they are not coming back.”
When 200-year-old and 300-year-old giants are felled, increased sunlight on the forest floor causes an explosion of invasive species and less-desirable trees, including hackberry and elm, Krauss said.
Climate change has played a role in the rapid decline of white oaks, with drought making the trees more vulnerable to disease or pests.
The U.S. Forest Service and the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers planned a pilot project with a new test kit to quickly determine if a tree has oak wilt, but efforts to develop the kits at the University of Toronto fell through in 2023.
Abdennour Abbas, a professor of nanotechnology at the University of Minnesota, stepped up in 2023 with PureBioX, a St. Paul, Minn., startup that develops rapid tests for use in health care, pharmaceutical, food and agricultural industries.
“The regular test is a cell culture and it takes a very long time,” said Anil Meher, a PureBioX analytical chemist who last week visited Iowa for a trial of the oak wilt test kits at Hickory Grove Park near Colo, in Story County.
When plant diagnostic laboratories test trees for oak wilt, the results can take two weeks to two months and cost $70 to $300, the Iowa DNR’s Feeley said. PureBioX’s test kits take one hour and cost about $30 each.
“It’s quite simple so you can do it in the field setting,” Meher said.
Mark Runkel, an Iowa DNR forest health technician, and John Mullen, a GIS analyst for the department, walked out into a stand of trees at Hickory Grove to look for white oaks with signs of oak wilt. The outer leaves may turn brown, while the veins stay green. And when a branch of an infected tree is removed, the cut ends smell like fermented fruit.
From each tree, they gathered a cluster of leaves, a branch and a 3-inch trunk core. If the tests of leaves are effective in determining infection, future tests won’t require branches or trunk cores.
Mullen marked the locations of the trees in a tablet and gave each a unique ID. Mapping the infected trees is an early step to determine how oak wilt might be spreading.
Meher and Feeley put each sample into a tube with chemicals that break down the tree matter. Meher extracted the DNA and put it into a tiny vial, which is heated on a portable pad to amplify the DNA. If the Bretiella fagacearum fungus, which causes oak wilt, is present, the liquid will turn yellow. If the fungus is not present, the liquid turns pink.
If foresters find isolated trees with oak wilt, they could spray herbicide on those trees in hopes of halting the transmission through underground root systems, Feeley said.
The team plans to test trees in the Amana Society’s 7,000-acre timber, in Marshall County, in the Loess Hills in Western Iowa and in the Des Moines area. They also are putting out insect traps in forests with oak wilt to see what kinds of bugs might be carrying the fungus. Results of these studies will go into the 2024 Forest Health report.
Comments: (319) 339-3157; erin.jordan@thegazette.com
The Iowa High School State Track and Field Championships took place this weekend at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, with plenty of Iowa signees, commits, and recruiting targets in action across all four classes of competition.
We discussed which athletes with Iowa ties would be in action a week ago, so let’s dig into the results.
4A
100
Louden Grimsley, Sioux City East – 11th, 10.85
200
Julian Manson, Iowa City West – 23rd, 22.96
4×100
IC West (Mason Woods, Manson) – 10th, 42.33
Southeast Polk (Sam Zelenovich) – 11th, 42.40
Sioux City East (Grimsley) – 19th, 43.18
4×200
Ankeny Centennial (Braeden Jackson) – 1st, 1:26.20
IC West (Woods, Manson) – 3rd, 1:27.17
Sioux City East (Grimsley) – 17th, 1:30.25
Sprint Medley
IC West (Woods, Manson) – 9th, 1:32.88
Urbandale (Elijah Hoyt) – DQ
Distance Medley
SEP (Zelenovich) – 3rd, 3:27.00
IC West (Woods) – 5th, 3:28.54
Urbandale (Hoyt) – 7th, 3:28.73
Shot Put
Colin Whitters, IC West – 7th, 51-07.75
Joey Vanwetzinga, Pleasant Valley – 6th, 52-01.25
Discus
Whitters, IC West – 8th, 156-01
Notes
The only Iowa signee in action among the 4A prospects was Pleasant Valley’s Joey Vanwetzinga, a Class of 2025 recruit who verbally committed to Iowa last summer; he finished 6th in the shot put this weekend.
The most notable other Iowa-associated athletes in action were Mason Woods and Julian Manson, a pair of prospects from Iowa City West who each have fathers on the Iowa staff (LeVar Woods and Jason Manson, respectively). Woods is a three-star athlete in the Class of 2025, while Manson is currently an unrated athlete in the Class of 2026; Woods has an Iowa offer, while Manson has Iowa interest at this time. They competed in several different individual and relay sprint events, highlighted by a third-place finish in the 4×200.
Braeden Jackson, an unrated RB recruit and possible PWO target for Iowa in the Class of 2025, helped Ankeny Centennial claim a state championship in the 4×200 relay.
3A
100
Brevin Doll, ADM – 1st, 10.82
Will Hawthorne, Gilbert – 8th, 11.45
200
Doll, ADM – 1st, 21.50
400
Rayce Heitman, Williamsburg – 5th, 49.62
Jaxson McIntire, Clear Lake – 22nd, 54.00
4×100
ADM (Doll) – 2nd, 41.90
Western Dubuque (Grant Glausser) – 5th, 42.69
Williamsburg (Heitman) – 9th, 42.93
Gilbert (Hawthorne) – 17th, 44.08
4×200
ADM (Doll) – 1st, 1:25:55
Western Dubuque (Glausser) – 9th, 1:29.66
4×400
Williamsburg (Heitman) – 16th, 3:29.73
Sprint Medley
Williamsburg (Heitman) – 2nd, 1:31.97
Gilbert (Hawthorne) – 21st, 1:37.87
High Jump
Derek Weisskopf, Williamsburg – 4th, 6’7″
Shot Put
Weisskopf, Williamsburg – 8th, 53-01.00
Discus
Weisskopf, Williamsburg – 2nd, 179-08
Notes
The star of the 2A ranks — and arguably of the entire weekend — was ADM’s Brevin Doll, who scorched the track with state championships in the 100m and 200m individual events as well as the 4×200 relay — and also helped ADM to a second-place finish in the 4×100 relay for good measure. ADM finished behind Harlan in the 4×100 finals at 41.90, though their 41.33 in prelims would have taken the crown with ease.
Doll had the fastest finals run in the 100m (10.82) across all classes — and that was nothing compared to the state record he set of 10.40 in the prelims. Doll also had the fastest finals run in the 200m (21.50) across all classes, but like the 100m, his prelim time of 21.10 was even faster. Doll made up for missing last year’s state tournament due to injury and then some with his performances this weekend; he was absolutely flying all weekend long.
Doll signed with Iowa last fall and is set to be a running back when he joins the team this summer.
The other notable 3A athlete in action was Williamsburg’s Derek Weisskopf, a 2024 signee who will join the program as a linebacker this summer. Weisskopf wasn’t able three-peat as a state champion in the high jump, finishing in fourth place this year. He also finished second in the discus.
The athlete who topped Weisskopf for the state championship in the discus also has some Iowa ties as it happens — Solon senior Ben Kampman claimed the state title in the discus this year. Kampman is the son of former Iowa star defensive lineman Aaron Kampman. While Ben had some interest from Iowa, he did not receive an offer and committed to Duke last fall on a track scholarship.
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2A
100
Graham Eben, Central Lyon – 23rd, 11.45
Jaxon Paulsrud, Cherokee – 16th, 11.33
DJ Vonnahme, Kuemper – DQ
200
Paulsrud, Cherokee – 10th, 22.67
Eben, Central Lyon – 20th, 22.92
4×100
Central Lyon (Eben) – 21st, 44.39
Roland Story (Fiston Carlson) – 14th, 44.01
Shot Put
Preston Ries, Monticello – 4th, 55-05
Mason Knipp, Columbus Catholic – 6th, 52-06.75
Discus
Ries, Monticello – 5th, 160-09
Notes
It was a quiet year for Iowa-affiliated athletes in the 2A ranks. The standout was Monticello’s Preston Ries, who posted a 4th place finish in the shot put and a 5th place finish in the discus. Ries, who signed with Iowa last fall, will come in to Iowa City as a linebacker this fall.
Preferred walk-on Mason Knipp had a 6th place finish in the shot put. Two other preferred walk-ons, Central Lyon’s Graham Even and Kuemper’s DJ Vonnahme, were also in action this weekend.
1A
4×400
Woodbine (Landon Blum) – 10th, 3:30.74
4×800
Woodbine (Blum) – 8th, 8:20.56
Distance Medley
Woodbine (Blum) – 2nd, 3:33.43
High Jump
Woodbine (Blum) – 5th, 6’3″
Notes
Woodbine’s Landon Blum, a 6’5″ wide receiver and Class of 2027 prospect, was the only 1A athlete with Iowa ties in action at the state tournament. Winfield-Mt. Union’s Cam Buffington, the third of Iowa’s 2024 in-state linebackers, did not compete this weekend.
Blum showed off his speed in a number of events, highlighted by helping Woodbine to a 2nd place finish in the distance medley race. Iowa State is the only school to offer Blum thus far, but his recruitment should heat up as his high school career progresses.
Valley’s Addison Dorenkamp wins third 3000-meter state title
Valley’s Addison Dorenkamp braves the heat, wins third 3000-meter state title
As West Des Moines Valley’s star distance runner Addison Dorenkamp made her way to Drake Stadium for the start of her final state track and field meet Thursday, she began to worry about the heat projected in the forecast.
Her mom, Jan Dorenkamp, saw the irony in her daughter’s concern.
“You better get used to it,” Jan Dorenkamp told Addison. “That’s what it is going to be like down south.”
The meet served as a teaser for what’s to come for Addison Doreknamp when she heads to the University of Alabama to continue her distance-running career. Hot temperatures and humidity will be the norm, most days a lot worse than what she faced on the Blue Oval.
The early results, as usual, were pretty good for the senior as she shook off the concern and secured a 3000-meter title Thursday morning.
As she came off the track, she reached for a water cup and dumped it over her head for instant relief from the heat.
“I was kind of dying,” Dorenkamp joked. “It was the one thing I thought I could do to cool myself down.”
She returned to the meet on Saturday for her final high school event, the 1500. Temperatures hovered in the upper-80s in Des Moines with a much hotter surface on the track.
She refused to be denied on this special day, securing the all-time Iowa record with a 4:25.32. That was over an entire second faster than Sioux City East’s Shelby Houlihan in 2010 (4:26.39).
As public address announcer Mike Jay serenaded Dorenkamp for a special career, he revealed to the crowd that it was Dorenkamp’s 18th birthday. How Jay knew that information was a surprise to her, after not telling many people. She planned to attend and celebrate her fellow seniors at their graduation parties following her state title rather than celebrate her birthday.
As humble as she was, she couldn’t help but express her excitement after that type of performance.
“It’s probably the greatest birthday present I’ve ever gotten,” Dorenkamp said.
Anyone in attendance at the state track meet saw how impressive Dorenkamp’s race was. As Dorenkamp was approaching the record, she said she felt her eyesight go just about black as she ran the final 100 meters in the sweltering heat.
That moment, she proved to herself that heat wouldn’t be too much of a problem when she heads off to college.
“It’s nice to know that I’m not a complete wimp,” Dorenkamp joked.
Dorenkamp ends her career with eight state championships, two in cross country and six in track. In cross country, she holds the third-fastest time in Iowa history at 17:40.1. For track, she swept the distance events three consecutive years and holds the 3000-meter record with her time of 9:23.6 at this year’s Drake Relays. She also holds Drake Relays records in the 1500 and 3000, which she set in April.
Every state title was precious for the Valley senior. However, as she reflects upon one of the most dominant legacies that the Iowa high school community has seen in distance running, she just hopes the next generation is better than her.
“Hopefully I was able to inspire younger athletes along the way who one day will break my records,” Dorenkamp said.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23
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