Jan. 3—An Orthodox Christian from Concord claims he smashed down The Satanic Temple display outside the State House last month because it was his religious duty to “destroy idolatrous statues.”
Joshua Cummings, formerly of Chichester, said a Concord police officer read him a Miranda warning at the scene, but did not arrest him.
If he’s charged, Cummings said he will be able to fundraise online from fellow Christian supporters to pay his legal fees.
“I regard it as one of the greatest things I’ve ever done, dust that it is. My conscience is clear, and should I be charged unfairly, then the crisis of conscience shall move laterally to my interlocutors,” Cummings said in a Facebook post the day after Christmas.
“I may stand trial tomorrow, but we will all stand trial before the only Righteous Judge. Please pray for me, I’m not sure what is about to happen, but I maintain: Glory be to God for all things!”
Brian Blackden of Concord provided nighttime security for the nearby Nativity Scene.
He confirmed Friday that Cummings was the man he spotted destroying the display last month.
At that time, Blackden said he shouted to the man to “grab a wall” and wait for a police officer to question him.
“It was the same vehicle used two nights in a row identified by the plate and the second night identified with the photograph shown by the police department,” Blackden said.
State Rep. Ellen Read, D-Newmarket, had first invited a Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple group to bring its display to Concord.
Read and said Cummings was spotted on several videos she has seen.
“He doesn’t seem to realize it but his manifesto is a direct admission to hate crimes, he clearly spells out his motivation was religion, which is a protected class,” Read said.
Concord police confirmed they questioned someone after the display was destroyed a second time but have not made any comment since.
Read says cops are delaying
Read said state and local authorities have been dragging their feet on the matter.
“I understand that sometimes it takes prosecution a while to compile the best possible case against someone before making an arrest, however in this case there has been plenty of time, there are multiple videos from multiple different angles for multiple instances, witness accounts, and of course his lengthy manifesto admission to hate crimes,” Read said.
“It is rare that prosecution gets such a perfect case laid in their laps without any work. He should be prosecuted on each count of hate crime, without any more delay.”
The statue depicted a black-clad goat-headed Baphomet with glowing eyes clutching a bouquet of plastic purple lilacs in its right hand, symbolizing the state flower of New Hampshire. It was also adorned with a purple stole emblazoned with the inverted pentagram, goat’s head of the temple’s logo, and two inverted crosses.
The statue was vandalized several times by multiple people, and Cummings admitted online he participated.
“Other people have destroyed it on several occasions. It has basically become open season on the stupid thing at this point, but I (have lost count) did at least five times bash it on the head with my medieval mace in the middle of the night, and I was finally apprehended by police for it a few nights ago,” Cummings wrote.
The Satanic Temple has said its “seven tenets” support social justice and kindness, but Cummings said that has nothing to do with the agenda of Satan’s followers.
“I know the Satanic Temple wants to catch me on a ‘hate crime’ charge,” Cummings said.
“On the night I was apprehended, the officer, after spending a few minutes at his vehicle, came up to me and said, ‘So you did this because you hate the Satanic Temple?’ Paraphrasing, I responded ‘I don’t hate anyone. The Satanic Temple are a bunch of idiots, but I pray they repent. I hate Satan.”‘
klandrigan@unionleader.com