Alleged Satanic Temple arsonist detained
Jun. 22—SALEM — As a prosecutor pointed out there were tourists staying at The Satanic Temple on the night that Daniel Damien Lucey allegedly set a fire there, and that he told police he "would be OK with it," Lucey spoke up.
"If they worship Satan," Lucey clarified, before his attorney asked to approach the judge's bench during a detention hearing Tuesday in Salem District Court.
Lucey, 42, of Chelsea, is charged with setting fire to the front porch of the Bridge Street headquarters of the organization, which advocates for First Amendment issues, on June 10.
Judge Randy Chapman granted a request by the district attorney's office to hold Lucey without bail until his trial on charges of burning a building, burning a place of worship and a civil rights violation.
"It is the sort of quintessential case of dangerousness," said Chapman, after hearing about Lucey's record. "The defendant's behavior seems to be escalating."
Prosecutor Gabrielle Foote Clark described some of the recent cases on Lucey's record — including one in 2020 in which he threw a rock through a stained glass window of the Arlington Street Church in the Back Bay, then told police he hated the church, he hated capitalism, and he hated police.
His view on capitalism, he told police, was also the reason he flipped over a row of planters in front of the Ritz Carlton Hotel and shoved a baggage cart through a window in 2019. He has also faced charges related to setting fires, including trying to set a Boston police vehicle on fire in 2020, another at the Masonic building on Tremont Street downtown, and setting clothing and blankets on fire under vehicles and setting them on fire, the prosecutor said.
"What this case is about is a defendant who thinks it's up to him to judge, to call the shots, and by whatever means carry out what is appropriate," Foote Clark told the judge.
Lucey's lawyer, John Morris, made much of his argument at the judge's bench, but did return to the well to cite Lucey's ties to the area and suggested he would be able to abide by conditions if released.
Chapman was not persuaded however, detaining Lucey for up to 120 days or trial, whichever comes first.
A status hearing is set for July 21.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis
