(Headline USA) A Reno, Nevada-based Satanist leader gave the opening prayer for the Washoe County Commission’s regular meeting on Tuesday.
Jason Miller, the founder of a group called Reno Satanic, addressed the dais alone. Apparently referencing the Bible verse Mark 5:9 in which a demon refers to itself with a plural pronoun, Miller thanked the commission for “letting us here.”
Miller proceeded to kick off the commission’s agenda by invoking the name of “Lucifer” and “Satan” in Latin, before continuing in a confusing, disjointed sentence in English:
“In the name of the eternal rebel against tyrannical authority … bring influence and guiding actions of nobility and justice to the decisions made in this chamber today, to act with might and the undertaking of responsibility that may lay ahead of this body before us today,” he began.
“The New Age is dawning that these decisions will play a role in,” Miller continued. “For our liberation, for here and now is our day of joy, here and now is our opportunity. May we seize this glorious day and its enchanting nights to celebrate the wonders of the natural world, as we are all part of its boundless mysteries.”
Jason ended his prayer with “Hail Satan,” to which several members of the gallery responded by shouting prayers in the name of Jesus Christ.
Deputy District Attorney Nate Edwards stated that Satanic invocations were part of a trend because “if you do open your floor for invocations, then federal law is that you have to let everybody have a turn signing up.”
“I guess you have to take the good with the bad,” Edwards added.
Commissioner Mike Clark called Miller a “nitwit,” ThisIsReno reported.
“When you open it up, this is what you get,” Clark said.
Only one Washoe County Commissioner, Clara Andriola, left the room during Miller’s prayer. Andriola then publicly stated that she disagreed with Miller’s invocation and, after the meeting, asked the “entire faith-based community to contact the county manager’s office to be considered for an invocation.”
According to Miller’s group, this is the first time any Satanist group has given an invocation during a government meeting in Nevada. Previously, Reno Satanic has marched in the Reno Pride Parade.
This Satanic invocation comes just weeks after a separate Satanist group erected a demonic Baphomet statue in the Iowa state capital.
The minions of Hell, however, ultimately lost that battle after former Navy pilot Michael Cassidy decapitated the statue.
1 Peter 5:8 KJV
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour— Michael Cassidy ✝️ 🇺🇸 (@Mike_Cassidy_MS) December 14, 2023
Cassidy was later arrested and charged with 4th-degree criminal mischief. A GiveSendGo fundraiser created on his behalf quickly raised nearly $85,000 to support his legal expenses.
