SUMMARY: In today’s Ark-La-Miss update, another suspect, Christopher Winfield, has been arrested in connection with the Hibbitz Sporting shooting that occurred on February 8 at Beconland Mall. This case is gang-related. Additionally, a significant $48 million road construction project, connecting Kansas Lane to Garrett Road, will soon be open for contractor bids, with construction expected to start in early 2026. Meanwhile, the Northeast Louisiana Music Trail will unveil its 22nd historical marker at the University of Louisiana Monroe on April 3. Weather forecasts predict scattered showers and thunderstorms through the weekend, with a cold front arriving Sunday.
TOPEKA, Kan. — The bullhorn-powered war of words between satanists and Catholics boiled over into brawling and a handful of arrests Friday during an extraordinary event at the Kansas Capitol that pushed boundaries of free speech and the separation of church and state.
After about two hours of speeches, prayers and sign waving among hundreds of people mostly segregated by barricades staffed by law enforcement officers, Satanic Grotto president Michael Stewart, with supporters and reporters in tow, entering the Statehouse to conduct what he had described as a black mass. He was warned at the door to the visitors’ center that any formal protest inside the building that violated a permit limiting his religious expression to the lawn or steps of the Capitol would result in his arrest for trespassing.
In the rotunda, Stewart began delivering the rebellious alternative mass and was interrupted by three people intent on stopping what could be interpreted as a mockery of their faith. An unidentified man and woman, with young kids at their side, physically intervened to interrupt Stewart. He spun away from them. Counter-protester Marcus Schroeder joined the fray and twice reached to rip papers from Stewart’s hand. Stewart responded by punching Schroeder in the face twice. More than half a dozen Capitol Police wrestled Stewart to the floor to make the arrest.
“I’m not resisting. I’m not resisting. I’m not resisting,” Stewart repeatedly yelled.
Schroeder, who wore a shirt declaring “death is not welcome here,” wasn’t arrested by Capitol Police. In an interview, he defended his intervention to thwart Stewart.
“He was trying to give a satanic chant. I tried to take his paper out of his hand and he punched me twice in the face,” Schroeder said.
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After the area cleared, two other satanists tried to pick up where Stewart left off and were taken into custody. One other person was cuffed and led away by law enforcement outside the Capitol. An individual had grabbed Stewart by the legs in a bid to stop Stewart from stomping on crackers intended to represent those used in a Catholic mass. In that brief exchange, Stewart also punched the guy before law enforcement ended the fracas.
“He was was trying to tackle me to get to the cracker underneath,” Stewart said. “I was able to kind of fend him off. I do think he may have picked up the crumbled cracker and ate it. Did I get physical with him? Yes.”
Hundreds of Christians upset with an organization’s plan to conduct a satanic black mass at the Kansas Capitol delivered a robust counter-protest to emphasize their disdain for followers of Satanic Grotto. Both sides of the debate used bullhorns to punctuate their messages, creating a blended sound that was difficult for anybody to hear clearly. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)
The opposition
The colorful display of affection and affliction for organized religion culminated attempts by Gov. Laura Kelly, Attorney General Kris Kobach, leaders of the Kansas Legislature and Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, to restrain or derail the demonstration planned by Satanic Grotto.
Kelly had the group’s permit amended so no protest could transpire inside the Capitol. Legislative leaders modified policy regarding use of the Capitol to target Satanic Grotto. Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Wichita, said the First Amendment didn’t protect offensive speech or violations of law.
Francis Slobodnik, a Topeka representative of the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, told hundreds of Catholics gathered on the south side of the Capitol that public officials shouldn’t have allowed satanists to assemble on public property. He said the process showed a misguided understanding of freedom of speech and religion and a lack of appreciation for how a black mass represented worship of Satan.
“Today’s horrific event, the first of its kind in the history of Kansas, is a sacrilege,” said Slobodnik, who urged people to engage in a peaceful rally. “Of course, there have been terrible crimes and injustices that have happened in our state over the years. However, nothing in our past compares with what is happening today where God is being directly challenged on the state Capitol grounds. The state Capitol represents all of us.”
He praised people at the rally who were standing in opposition to Satanic Grotto, and referred to them as the Navy Seals of the Catholic faith. He said these activists were willing to confront God’s enemies head-on as if on a field of battle. He said the great sin perpetrated by Stewart and other worshipers of Satan meant that others had to step into the void.
“Satanists do not realize that Satan hates all of God’s creation, including them,” Slobodnik said. “Their reward for worshiping and serving him will be eternal fire.”
Cure Church member Daniel Casteel, center with megaphone, was among Christians who used amplified equipment Friday, March 28, 2025, at the Kansas Capitol to broadcast invitations for people to renounce Satan and welcome Jesus into their lives. He proclaimed to his target audience across a law enforcement barrier: “Any time you’re ready, you can step this way. We will make sure you get saved.” (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector)
And, an exorcist
Former U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp, who served in the Kansas Senate before elected to Congress, said he consulted with a priest with experience in exorcism when considering whether to participate in a television interview with Stewart.
“Father had a simple question: ‘Why would you do this? What do you hope to gain?’ I stumbled around in my answer,” Huelskamp said. “I wanted to share the truth about Christ. The truth about the Eucharist. His summary response was quite stunning to me. He said, ‘There is no good that could come from being in the same room with a satanist.’”
Huelskamp said it was suggested his participation in the interview with Stewart might advance the interests of Satan. The former Republican congressman woke ill the next day, and cancelled the interview. In the end, Huelskamp said he decided it was important to run to the fire created by Satan rather than shrink from it. He said it was the same as making his views known about the evil of abortion or defending the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman.
“I am quite stubborn and hardheaded,” he said. “We cannot be silent. We are required, if we call ourselves Christians, if we call ourselves Catholic, we are publicly required to defend the faith and to stand up for the truth.”
In an interview amid calm before the storm of his arrest, Stewart said he was convinced Catholics assembled around him didn’t understand why Satanic Grotto was at the Capitol to talk about religious oppression.
“What we only want is the rights that every American has,” Stewart said. “I’ve heard people say we’re setting a precedent. Well, if the precedent is freedom of religion for everyone in public spaces, yes, that’s what we’re trying to establish. We are dragging this issue out in the light and we’ll let the people look at it. The issue is that we’re not all being treated the same here.”
Mike Trapp, of Leavenworth, Kansas, said he took part in rallies outside the State Capitol on Friday, March 28. 2025, to express his view that government needed to respect the constitutional mandate of a formal separation between church and state. He said the rise of Christian nationalists represented the greatest threat to democracy. (Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector)
Other voices in crowd
Eudora resident John More, a Christian who carried a call-to-heaven New England pine tree flag, said he was motivated to attend because he viewed the satanists’ criticism of Catholics as an assault on religion in general. He joined with Julie Britschge of Burlingame for a “Jericho Walk,” or prayer walk, by circling the statehouse grounds seven times. Britschge said the walk was patterned after the biblical story of the Israelites’ march aimed at bringing about spiritual change.
“We’re hoping that whatever evil there is today, that He will take care of it,” More said. “I was just planning to add a measure of divine protection.”
Daniel Casteel and Shawn Velasquez, both with the Cure Church, made their views heard with the aid of megaphones. They prowled the security-line perimeter sharing perspectives on religion before taking part in back-and-forth exchanges across the barrier with supporters of Satanic Grotto.
“Jesus loves you,” Casteel bellowed. “Any time you’re ready, you can step this way. We will make sure you get saved. Come give your life to Jesus, please. Break the stronghold.”
In an interview, Velasquez and Casteel said their intent was to convince one or two satanic worshipers to find solace in God.
“They’re just misguided and uninformed,” Velasquez said. “They’re worshiping a false god.”
On the other side of that line, Mike Trapp of Leavenworth quietly held a sign that emphasized his belief the United States was best served by adhering to the constitutional principle of a formal separation between church and state.
“We wouldn’t be standing here today if there weren’t Christians flaunting their religion in the Capitol,” said Trapp, who considered the rise of Christian nationalism to be “the biggest threat to democracy.”
Wichita residents Kyle Francis and Sam McCrory, who were armed with a gun, flag and a collection of religious symbols, said they were present to stand up for Christ.
“Any time that people who oppose Christ show their head, you know, they should be opposed publicly,” McCrory said.
He said separation of church and state was originally the product of a homogenous Christian population. Satanists and others who diluted that national unity often used constitutional freedoms as a weapon against well-meaning people, he said.
“These sorts of things need to be brutally tamped down,” McCrory said. “Let’s set an example. I think that the United States should be an explicitly Christian nation. If you want to be something other than Christian, I think that’s fine, to an extent. I think they (non-Christians) should have to pay an extra tax.”
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This report was first published by the Kansas Reflector, part of the States Newsroom nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.
Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.
This report was first published by the Kansas Reflector, part of the States Newsroom nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.
In a legal setback for fossil fuel advocates, a federal court has invalidated a large offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, ruling Thursday in favor of environmental groups that sued to block the lease after it was scheduled for auction in 2023.
U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee in the District of Columbia, found unlawful a 73-million acre offshore oil and gas lease sale, one of the largest in history, that the Interior Department held in March 2023. Oil and gas leases are contracts in which private companies rent tracts of federal land or water from the government usually for the purposes of drilling or extracting raw materials.
The court ruled in favor of groups that had sued the Interior Department, finding that the agency failed to adequately consider the potential harms of climate changing emissions from fossil fuel production arising out of the lease as well as the impact to the nearly-extinct Rice’s whale, which lives exclusively in the Gulf of Mexico. The most recent scientific survey in 2017-18 estimated that only about 50 of the endangered whales are still alive, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The judge ordered additional briefing from the parties regarding what remedies the court should impose.
The Interior Department, through the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management under the Biden administration, had previously canceled the lease sale nearly three years ago. However, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a centrist Democrat from West Virginia, inserted a provision into the Inflation Reduction Act that forced the Interior Department to resurrect the sales along with two others that were similarly canceled. Separate litigation remains ongoing to decide the fate of the two other sales, one in the Gulf of Mexico and the other in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
The next Gulf oil and gas lease is scheduled for auction in 2025, and two others are proposed to take place over the next five years. After leases are sold, it typically takes many years before platforms and other infrastructure are built and drilling begins.
For various reasons, some companies purchase leases and don’t use them at all. Hundreds of oil and gas leases currently sit idle as fuel prices have been relatively stable for several years on the global energy market. The last oil and gas lease auction in ANWR this year drew no bids.
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Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Emilee Calametti | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-03-28 14:30:00
(The Center Square) — Reported call numbers from the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office show 9,017 calls for assistance and 11,781 unit-initiated actions from Oct. 1 to March 1 as reported crime shows a decline over the past year.
As reported crime continues to drop for the Bossier Parish Sheriff’s Office compared to February last year, the office is receiving calls by the thousands, according to reported data. A call frequency breakdown shows over 9,000 calls for service or assistance.
The office received five major crime calls and one mass casualty call within the last six months. Calls for crimes against persons were greater in volume at 905.
According to reported crime data, rape offenses were up since this time last year, but many other offenses, including robbery, simple assault, burglary, and theft show a decrease.
There were no reported robbery cases as of February. Simple assault dropped from 60 to 49 compared to February of last year. Violent crime did trend upwards by 4% due to the increase in rape cases with 10 reported cases this year as of February. Aggravated assault cases on reported crime data show a 109% increase in cases since last year.
The office received 1,227 property crime calls from Oct. 1 to March 1, however, reported crime shows a decrease in property crime cases by 44% compared to February of last year. There were 37 cases reported as of February and 66 the same time last year. Property crime includes burglary, purse snatching, shoplifting, theft, theft from auto, auto access theft and auto theft.
Unit initiated actions sit at the highest call volume. Reported data shows there were 11,781 unit initiated actions from Oct 1 to March 1. These are calls from officers when they witness a crime, such as someone breaking into a car.
Apart from crime and assistance calls, the office received 240 weather-related calls and 11,225 traffic-related calls.
The reported call volume for Bossier Sheriff’s Office reports for Bossier Parish and does not include reported crime within the city limits of Bossier City, Benton, Haughton and Plain Dealing.
Emilee Ruth Calametti serves as staff reporter for The Center Square covering the Northwestern Louisiana region. She holds her M.A. in English from Georgia State University and soon, an additional M.A. in Journalism from New York University. Emilee has bylines in DIG Magazine, Houstonia Magazine, Bookstr, inRegister, The Click News, and the Virginia Woolf Miscellany.She is a Louisiana native with over seven years of journalism experience.
