Minnesota city abolishes 'free speech zone' following protests against Satanic monument

Council members in a Minnesota city have decided to abolish the free speech zone at a local Veterans Memorial Park following large protests against the installation of a Satanic monument at the park.

In February, the Belle Plaine city council voted to create a "limited public forum/free speech zone" in Veterans Park after an atheist group threatened to sue the city for allowing a monument that featured a soldier kneeling before a cross tombstone to be displayed at the park.

The zone was supposed to be an area where religious monuments from all creeds, including Satanism, can be displayed.

The Satanic Temple soon applied to install a monument that features a pentagram in the park, and city officials said that they had to allow it due to the forum status.

On Saturday, over a hundred Christians held a prayer rally against the decision to allow the Satanic monument, prompting the council to abolish the "Free Speech Zone."

Apart from the prayer rally, the city has been flooded with calls and emails complaining about the Satanic monument. According to council member Cary Coop, the city received approximately 200 calls and emails each day.

"The original intent of providing the public space was to recognize those who have bravely contributed to defending our nation through their military service. In recent weeks and months, though, that intent has been overshadowed by freedom of speech concerns expressed by both religious and non-religious communities," Belle Plaine city officials said in a statement on Tuesday, as reported by Christian News Network.

The city officials lamented that the debate over the monuments has "promoted divisiveness" among the residents, adding that it detracted from the city's original intent of "designating a space solely for the purpose of honoring and memorializing military veterans."

"Therefore, the council believes that it is in the best interests of our Belle Plaine community to rescind the resolution, and bring this divisive matter to closure," the officials concluded.

The proposed Satanic monument was never installed, but the statue of a soldier kneeling at a grave marked by a cross has now been removed from the park.

The Satanic memorial would have been the first of its kind to be displayed on public grounds in U.S. history.

The space that was formerly designated as a "free speech" zone will now remain empty except for the American flag.