Police in Massachusetts say someone threw an explosive device on the porch of the Satanic Temple when no one was inside, and that the device and the damage it caused were not found until nearly 12 hours later.
SALEM, Mass. — Someone threw an explosive device on the porch of the Satanic Temple in Massachusetts at a time when no one was inside, and the device and the damage it caused were not found until nearly 12 hours later, police said. No injuries have been reported.
State police bomb technicians have ensured the device no longer posed a threat, police said in a news release Monday. Police dogs searched the location 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 not discovered until staff arrived around 4 p.m., police said.
Police provided no details about the damage.
Police have previously responded to the temple for bomb threats and hate crimes. In 2022, a man pleaded not guilty to arson, destroying a place of worship and violating civil rights after being accused of setting the building on fire.
In January, a man was charged with destroying a statue of a pagan idol at the Iowa Capitol as a hate crime. It was brought there by the Satanic Temple of Iowa under state rules that allowed religious displays in the building during the holidays.
The Salem, Massachusetts-based Satanic Temple, founded in 2013, says it does not believe in Satan but describes itself as a “non-theistic religious organization” that advocates secularism. It is separate from the Church of Satan, which was founded in the 1960s.