Michigan town board meeting descends into chaos after Satanic temple leader is ... trends now
Chaos erupted at the Ottawa County board meeting in Michigan when a member of the Satanic Church delivered an invocation to start the gathering.
A man by the name of Luis Cypher, a minister of the Satanic Temple of West Michigan, gave a speech on Tuesday reiterating the importance of separating church and state, one of the main principles of the organization.
But the massive crowd descended into protest as people chanted and sang hymns such as 'Amazing Grace,' put signs on the wall that said, 'God always, Satan never' and 'Satan has no rights.'
One man yelled, 'hail Satan,' while others yelled, 'we love Jesus.'
The exchanges remained verbal and did not escalate to physical violence.
Chaos erupted at the Ottawa County board meeting in Michigan when a member of the Satanic Church delivered an invocation to start the meeting (pictured: A Christian protesting the invocation)
But the massive crowd descended into protest as people chanted and sang hymns such as Amazing Grace, put signs on the wall that said 'God always, Satan never' and 'Satan has no rights'
The turbulent beginning to the meeting came after the board changed its policy in January to permit pastors to address commissioners provided they adhered to certain guidelines.
According to MLive, the action was brought about by concerns from a Grand Haven-based LGBTQ activist pastor who filed a lawsuit against the county for not being selected to give an invocation.
Co-head of The Satanic Temple of West Michigan Bendr Bones said he thought the invocation went well despite the protests.
In fact, he said he saw the large amount of protestors gathered at the board meeting was a sign that his organization was successfully carrying out their mission.
Last year, Ottawa County was established as a 'constitutional county' that protects individual rights of free speech. Bones said the invocation was a meant to test just that.
