The After School Satan Club being hosted at a Virginia elementary school faced a temporary setback Tuesday when its unnamed sponsor decided to no longer host the event. However, according to the Satanic Temple, which hosts the ASSC around the country, a new sponsor has resubmitted the group’s application.
Chesapeake Public Schools Superintendent Jared A. Cotton sent an email to parents on Tuesday indicating that the initial application had been withdrawn.
“Today, the Chesapeake citizen requesting to use the facility on behalf of the ASSC has officially withdrawn their request,” Cotton wrote. “As such, the application no longer meets the requirements of School Board Policy. At this point, the approval for building use has been canceled.”
The sponsor wrote in their request to withdraw that they did not want to add more “division” to the community in the aftermath of a recent mass shooting at a Chesapeake Walmart. The suspect in the shooting left a death note stating that he had been influenced by Satan.
“Due to the heightened emotional situation in our city following the recent tragic mass shooting at the Walmart off of Battlefield, I am removing my name from the lease agreement for the After School Satan Club,” the sponsor said.
Rose Bastet, a local volunteer for the the ASSC, said a new application was submitted just hours later.
The Spectator was the first to report last week on the club being offered in the library at B.M. Williams Primary School. A flyer for the after-school program claims that children who attend will work on science projects and arts and crafts. The Satanic Temple also says that they do not teach children to worship Satan; they view Satan as a “literary figure” who represents “rejecting tyranny” and “championing the human mind and spirit.” Children must also have permission slips signed by their parents in order to attend.
School officials said that legally they had no choice but to honor the group’s request. The Satanic Temple uses their after-school clubs as a way to test religious liberty in the United States.
Furious parents said they intend to fight the club’s presence at BM Williams. Aspen Nolette, the founder of Chesapeake Parents for Freedom, said the Satanic Temple members are “liars straight from the pit of hell.” Local church leaders have organized prayer groups in response to the ASSC.
The renewed application, which is still being reviewed by school officials, will be discussed at a Chesapeake school board meeting on December 12. The ASSC was previously scheduled to hold its first monthly meeting on December 15.
