Satanist leader’s attempt to hold ‘Black Mass’ inside US statehouse sparks chaos and arrests

Satanist leader’s attempt to hold ‘Black Mass’ inside US statehouse sparks chaos and arrests
Christians counter-protest at a rally held outside the Kansas Statehouse by the Satanic Grotto from the Kansas City area on March 28, 2025, in Topeka, Kansas. (AP Photo)
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Updated 29 March 2025
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Satanist leader’s attempt to hold ‘Black Mass’ inside US statehouse sparks chaos and arrests

Satanist leader’s attempt to hold ‘Black Mass’ inside US statehouse sparks chaos and arrests
  • Kansas City-area Satanic Grotto rallied to protested what members called the state’s favoritism toward Christians in allowing events inside the statehouse
  • Members of the satanic cult said their rally was in support free speech rights and religious freedoms guaranteed by the US Constitution’s First Amendment

TOPEKA, Kansas: The leader of a small group of self-described satanists and at least one other person were arrested Friday following a scuffle inside the Kansas Statehouse arising from an effort by the group’s leader to start a “Black Mass” in the rotunda.

About 30 members of the Kansas City-area Satanic Grotto, led by its president, Michael Stewart, rallied outside the Statehouse for the separation of church and state. The group also protested what members called the state’s favoritism toward Christians in allowing events inside. Gov. Laura Kelly temporarily banned protests inside, just for Friday, weeks after Stewart’s group scheduled its indoor ceremony.

The Satanic Grotto’s rally outside drew hundreds of Christian counterprotesters because of the Grotto’s satanic imagery, and its indoor ceremony included denouncing Jesus Christ, who Christians believe is the Son of God. About 100 Christians stood against yellow police tape marking the Satanic Grotto’s area. The two groups yelled at each other while the Christians also sang and called on Grotto members to accept Jesus. Several hundred more Christians rallied on the other side of the Grotto’s area, but further away.

Kelly issued her order earlier this month after Roman Catholic groups pushed her to ban any Satanic Grotto event. The state’s Catholic Bishops called what the group planned “a despicable act of anti-Catholic bigotry” mocking the Catholic Mass. Both chambers of the Legislature also approved resolutions condemning it.




Roman Catholics were among the Christians counter-protesting at a rally by the Satanic Grotto from the Kansas City area outside the Kansas Statehouse on March 28, 2025, in Topeka, Kansas. (AP Photo)

“The Bible says Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, so when we dedicate a state to Satan, we’re dedicating it to death,” said Jeremiah Hicks, a pastor at the Cure Church in Kansas City, Kansas.

Satanic Grotto members, who number several dozen, said they hold a variety of beliefs. Some are atheists, some use the group to protest harm they suffered as church members, and others see Satan as a symbol of independence.

Amy Dorsey, a friend of Stewart’s, said she rallied with the Satanic Grotto to support free speech rights and religious freedoms guaranteed by the US Constitution’s First Amendment, in part because Christian groups are allowed to meet regularly inside the Statehouse for prayer or worship meetings.

Before his arrest, Stewart said his group scheduled its Black Mass for Friday because it thought the Kansas Legislature would be in session, though lawmakers adjourned late Thursday night for their annual spring break. Stewart said the group might come back next year.

“Maybe un-baptisms, right here in the Capitol,” he said.

Video shot by KSNT-TV showed that when Stewart tried to conduct his group’s ceremony in the first-floor rotunda, a young man tried to snatch Stewart’s script from his hands, and Stewart punched him. Several Kansas Highway Patrol troopers wrestled Stewart to the ground and handcuffed him. They led him through hallways on the ground floor below and into a room as he yelled, “Hail, Satan!”

Stewart’s wife, Maenad Bee, told reporters, “He’s only exercising his First Amendment rights.”




Michael Stewart, the president of the Kansas City-area Satanic Grotto, speaks with reporters as the group's rally gets started outside the Kansas Statehouse on March 28, 2025, in Topeka, Kansas. (AP Photo

Online records showed that Stewart was jailed briefly Friday afternoon on suspicion of disorderly conduct and having an unlawful assembly, then released on $1,000 bond.

Witnesses and friends identified the young man trying to snatch away the script as Marcus Schroeder, who came to counterprotest with fellow members of a Kansas City-area church. Online records show Schroeder was arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct, with his bond also set at $1,000.

Dorsey said two other Satanic Grotto members also were detained, but didn’t have details. The Highway Patrol did not immediately confirm any arrests or detentions.

A friend of Schroeder’s, Jonathan Storms, said he was trying to help a woman who also sought to snatch away Stewart’s script and “didn’t throw any punches.”

The woman, Karla Delgado, said she came to the Statehouse with her three youngest children to deliver a petition protesting the Black Mass to Kelly’s office. Delgado said she approached Stewart because he was violating the governor’s order and Highway Patrol troopers weren’t immediately arresting him. She said in the ensuing confusion, her 4-year-old daughter was knocked to the ground.

“When we saw that nobody was doing anything — I guess just in the moment of it — it was like, ‘He’s not supposed to be allowed to do this,’ so we tried to stop him,” she said.


Turkiye’s youngest oil wrestlers keeping a 14th-century tradition alive

Turkiye’s youngest oil wrestlers keeping a 14th-century tradition alive
Updated 08 July 2025
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Turkiye’s youngest oil wrestlers keeping a 14th-century tradition alive

Turkiye’s youngest oil wrestlers keeping a 14th-century tradition alive
  • The sport, which is on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list, sees wrestlers cover themselves in olive oil and try to press their opponent’s back to the ground to win the bout

EDIRNE, Turkiye: On a grass field slick with olive oil and steeped in tradition, hundreds of boys as young as 11 joined the ranks of Turkiye’s most time-honored sporting event: the annual Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Championship.

Held every summer in the northwestern city of Edirne, the event is said to date back to the 14th century as a way of keeping the Ottoman Empire’s fighting men fit and ready for battle.

The sport, which is on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list, sees wrestlers cover themselves in olive oil and try to press their opponent’s back to the ground to win the bout.

Alongside the men contesting, youngsters also don the iconic “kispet” leather trousers to embark on a slippery test of strength, skill and stamina under the scorching sun.

The boys are ranked in divisions based on age, height and build, with the youngest generally placed in the “minik,” or tiny, category. Under strict safety regulations, their matches are shorter and closely supervised.

Most young wrestlers train year-round at local clubs, often in towns where oil wrestling is passed down through generations.

While the youngest competitors aren’t wrestling for titles like “baspehlivan,” the grand champion of the men’s matches, their participation is no less significant as it is key to the continuity of a sport that holds deep cultural importance across Turkiye.

This year’s contest – the 664th in its history – saw 36-year-old Orhan Okulu win his third men’s title.

“My goal was the golden belt in Kirkpinar and thanks to my God, I succeeded,” Okulu said of the coveted prize.


Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack

Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack
Updated 07 July 2025
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Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack

Pakistan confiscates 18 lions kept as pets in crackdown after attack
  • The lion, which was kept without a license in a house in Lahore, was confiscated and sent to a local safari park
  • Keeping exotic animals as pets has been fueled by social media, with owners often showing off their animals online as status symbols

LAHORE: Eighteen lions kept illegally as pets have been confiscated in Pakistan’s Punjab region, authorities said on Monday as they launched a crackdown after one escaped from a house and attacked a woman and two children.

The woman suffered scratches and bruises, and the two children, aged five and seven, were hospitalized after the attack last week but their injuries were not life-threatening, provincial wildlife officials said.

The lion, which was kept without a license in a house in Lahore, was confiscated and sent to a local safari park, said Mubeen Elahi, director general of the provincial Wildlife and Parks Department. The owner was later arrested, police said.

Keeping exotic animals as pets has been fueled by social media, with owners often showing off their animals online as status symbols.

“According to the new regulations for keeping big cats, no individual is allowed to keep a lion without a license, without adhering to the required cage size, and without following other standard operating procedures,” Elahi said.

The punishment is up to seven years in jail.

As well as confiscating the 18 animals, the department raided 38 lion and tiger breeding farms and arrested eight people for violating the rules, he said, adding that all farms will be inspected by the end of this week.

There are 584 lions and tigers in homes and breeding farms in Punjab, Pakistan’s most populous province, he said.

“I know plenty of people who keep big cats as pets,” said Qaim Ali, 30, who himself had a lion but sold it after it attacked his nephew.

“Most of them are not interested in breeding but keep them as a symbol of power and influence in society.” 


Djokovic’s daughter steals the show at Wimbledon with her victory dance

Djokovic’s daughter steals the show at Wimbledon with her victory dance
Updated 06 July 2025
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Djokovic’s daughter steals the show at Wimbledon with her victory dance

Djokovic’s daughter steals the show at Wimbledon with her victory dance
  • Tara Djokovic’s victory dance brought a smile to dad’s face. Everybody else’s, too

LONDON: Novak Djokovic won the match on Center Court on Saturday, but it was his 7-year-old daughter who really wowed Wimbledon.

Tara Djokovic’s victory dance brought a smile to dad’s face. Everybody else’s, too.

Djokovic had just clinched his 100th Wimbledon singles win and was asked during his on-court interview to shed light on the little dance he’s been doing recently.

He said it’s done to a song called “Pump It Up.”

“There’s a song with my kids — look my daughter’s doing it right now,” a smiling Djokovic said as he looked into the crowd. “You want to show it darling?”

The TV camera then panned to Tara, who then showed everyone how it’s done: pump your fists down, then left, right and overhead.

The crowd roared.

“She’s the master. It’s a little tradition we have right now. Hopefully we can keep going so we can keep pumping more in Wimbledon.”


China’s first Legoland opens to visitors in Shanghai

China’s first Legoland opens to visitors in Shanghai
Updated 05 July 2025
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China’s first Legoland opens to visitors in Shanghai

China’s first Legoland opens to visitors in Shanghai
  • The resort, which opened Saturday, is the first in China
  • It is one of 11 parks across the world and was built with 85 million Lego bricks

SHANGHAI: A giant 26-meter (85-foot) Lego figure named Dada welcomed visitors to the new Legoland resort in Shanghai.

The resort, which opened Saturday, is the first in China. It is one of 11 parks across the world and was built with 85 million Lego bricks.

Among the main attractions is Miniland, which replicates well-known sights from across the world using Lego bricks. It features landmarks across China like Beijing’s Temple of Heaven and Shanghai’s Bund waterfront. There’s also a boat tour through a historic Chinese water town built with Lego bricks.

“My first impression is it is a good recreation, like a real fairyland of Lego,” said Ji Yujia, a Lego fan who was there on opening day.

The resort was developed in conjunction with the Shanghai government by Merlin Entertainments and the LEGO Group.

Visitors were greeted by performances featuring Legoland characters. Tickets range from $44 (319 yuan) to $84 (599 yuan).


River Seine reopens to first Paris swimmers after century-long ban

River Seine reopens to first Paris swimmers after century-long ban
Updated 05 July 2025
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River Seine reopens to first Paris swimmers after century-long ban

River Seine reopens to first Paris swimmers after century-long ban
  • The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is seen as a key legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympics
  • A few dozen swimmers arrived ahead of the Saturday morning opening for the long awaited moment

PARIS: The River Seine reopened to Parisian swimmers on Saturday morning for the first time since 1923, offering locals and tourists a welcome respite after a scorching temperatures.

A few dozen swimmers arrived ahead of the opening at 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) for the long awaited moment, diving into the water under the watchful eye of lifeguards, an AFP journalist said.

The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is seen as a key legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympics, when open water swimmers and triathletes competed in its waters which were specially cleaned for the event.

The swimming zones are equipped with changing rooms, showers, and beach-style furniture, offering space for 150 to 300 people to relax, lay out their towels, and unwind from the city’s hustle and bustle.

The promise to lift the swimming ban dates back to 1988, when then-mayor of Paris and future president Jacques Chirac first advocated for its reversal.