Michael Cassidy

I was born in Annapolis, Maryland, just outside the Naval Academy, and grew up in Arlington, Virginia. When I was in high school, terrorists attacked our nation on 9/11. One of my classmates had a father on American Airlines Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon; I would see the smoking rubble every day on my school bus in the following months. I resolved then to join the military and serve my nation.

I was commissioned into the Navy in 2009 and after three years of flight school, including being stationed in Meridian for a year, I earned my Naval Aviator wings and moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia to become an F/A-18 Hornet pilot. After a tour which included a deployment on the USS George Washington I received orders to return to the Meridian area in 2016 as a T-45 instructor pilot. I spent the next 5 years as an instructor pilot before leaving active duty. I still fly for the Navy Reserves as an instructor pilot, and my civilian job is a maintenance test pilot for the T-45.

I’m a Christian conservative who loves our nation and is committed to preserving the blessings of liberty bestowed upon us by the founding generation. 

Legal Battle:

Michael tore down and beheaded a Satanist altar erected in the Iowa State Capitol in 2023. Members at the Satanic Temple of Iowa installed a statue depicting the idol Baphomet holding a pentacle and surrounded by candles in the Iowa Capitol near displays of the Nativity. Cassidy, a conservative Christian, finally had enough: he pushed over and decapitated this Satanic statue before he discarded the head in a trash can. Cassidy was charged with fourth-degree criminal mischief. Attorney Davis Younts, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who defended military service members from Biden vaccine mandates, assisted in his defense. 

Michael has been cleared of hate crime charges and no longer faces prison time. His fundraising campaign will remain open to assist with anticipated legal expenses related to his employment with the United States Navy, while any excess funds raised will benefit other Christian veterans in similar legal trouble through a nonprofit called Stand With Warriors.