california man linked to anti-islam film taken in for questioning
by:Runcheng Chuangzhan
2019-09-17
LOS ANGELES (Reuters)-
A California man and an-
On Saturday, Islamist films that sparked violent protests in the Muslim world were questioned by authorities investigating possible violations of his suspended sentence for bank fraud.
55-year-old Coptic Christian Nakoula Basseley Nakoula gave a voluntary interview to the federal probation officer at a sheriff\'s station in Cerritos, a Los Angeles suburb, leaving about 30 minutes later, a Los Angeles County Police Department spokesman.
Shoddy 13-minute English-
The language film, filmed in California and circulated on the Internet, has several titles, including \"The Innocence of Muslims\", mocked the Prophet Muhammad and portrayed him as a clown.
The film sparked a violent protest in the United States. S.
US consulate in Benghazi, Libya. S.
The ambassador and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday. U. S.
Officials said they believed militants used the protest as a cover for armed attacks on the diplomatic compound and a building that was supposed to be a safe residence.
Protests have spread to other countries in the Muslim world.
For many Muslims, any description of the Prophet is blasphemy.
The cartoons, which were considered insulting in the past, caused protests and drew condemnation from officials, missionaries, ordinary Muslims and many Christians. U. S.
Officials said the authorities did not investigate the film project itself, and even if the film was inflammatory or caused by violence, making the film alone in the United States could not be considered a crime. There is a strong law on freedom of speech.
A lawyer from Nakoula did not call back to the US representative. S.
The probation office did not comment on the results of the inquiry by police officer Khoa.
Shortly after midnight, Nakoula was taken out of the House by the sheriff\'s deputy and entered a waiting car, his face covered with scarves, hats and sunglasses.
\"He was never handcuffed. . .
\"It\'s all voluntary,\" Whitmore said . \" Nakoula will not return to his home immediately, he added.
Nakoula\'s name is widely linked to the film in media reports, he admitted bank fraud in 2010 and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, court documents show, the next is a five-year probation.
A criminal complaint shows that he was accused of using a Social Security number that does not match the name of the application to defraud the opening of a bank and credit card account.
He was released in June 2011 and the film was made later that summer.
The terms of Nakoula\'s release limit him to surfing the Internet or using an alias without the approval of the probation officer.
A senior law enforcement official in Washington said the probation investigation involved whether Nakoula violated one or two of the conditions.
A person familiar with the matter said the probation agency was investigating the possibility that Nakoula would be involved in making YouTube films in violation of its release terms.
Court records show that any violation of probation could result in his return to prison.
The footage of the film, which has been released on the Internet since July, is attributed to a man named Sam Basil, and two people linked to the film say it could be an alias.
It is said that a phone number of Bacile was given to Reuters by the United States. S. -
Coptic Christian activist Maurice Sadiq says he has promoted the film.
This phone number goes back to a person who lives in Nakoula.
In an interview with Reuters, a crew member of the film said he was present while filming scenes at Cerritos\'s Nakoula home.
Worried about his safety, the man did not want to use his name, and he said he was told at the time that it was the home of producer Sam Basil.
In a film clip circulating on YouTube, a unique front door displayed from the inside in a scene is almost no different from the front door of the central Culla House seen from the outside.
They all have frosted glass, halfcircular cut-
Rose design with template in wood double-door entrance.
Members of the film crew said he heard the budget was less than $100,000 and Bacile he knew was in charge of the money.
\"He said he proposed it himself,\" the man told Reuters . \".
\"He said he owned gas stations and everything else in Orange County, and he said he saved it from his pocket.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Robinson, an assistant director, said the film had a budget of $250,000.
Expired in the background
Com casting call describes the film as \"ultra-low budget,\" and commentators use the fake beard and stilts of the amateur film as evidence of its shoddy nature.
Casting calls listed the film as a \"Arabian Desert adventure history film,\" and crew members said he was told it was a work of the period shot thousands of years ago in Egypt and dealt with some of the conditions of women at the time.
He said that he was not described as Prophet Muhammad when he was making Desert Warrior.
He said the script only distributed two or three pages at a time.
In several scenes of the film circulating on YouTube, the actor\'s voice appears to be dubbed to insert conversations related to Muhammad or the Quran.
According to officials in the city of Duarte, California, where the organization\'s headquarters is located, the non-profit organization Christian Media has obtained production licenses for the film.
The tax document lists Joseph Nasrallah Abdul Masi as the head of the Christian media.
An online video released on 2010 showed that at a rally in New York, where he urged the crowd to \"Stop Islamisation in the United States\" and oppose the construction of a Muslim center at the site of the World Trade Center attack.
The film\'s staff said that some of the filming took place in the Christian media office, which broadcast satellite television programs and sought to reach audiences in the Middle East and North Africa.
He said people from the group were present during the filming.
The media representative of Christ could not be reached for comment.
When Reuters visited them the past two days, their office was closed.
A California man and an-
On Saturday, Islamist films that sparked violent protests in the Muslim world were questioned by authorities investigating possible violations of his suspended sentence for bank fraud.
55-year-old Coptic Christian Nakoula Basseley Nakoula gave a voluntary interview to the federal probation officer at a sheriff\'s station in Cerritos, a Los Angeles suburb, leaving about 30 minutes later, a Los Angeles County Police Department spokesman.
Shoddy 13-minute English-
The language film, filmed in California and circulated on the Internet, has several titles, including \"The Innocence of Muslims\", mocked the Prophet Muhammad and portrayed him as a clown.
The film sparked a violent protest in the United States. S.
US consulate in Benghazi, Libya. S.
The ambassador and three other Americans were killed on Tuesday. U. S.
Officials said they believed militants used the protest as a cover for armed attacks on the diplomatic compound and a building that was supposed to be a safe residence.
Protests have spread to other countries in the Muslim world.
For many Muslims, any description of the Prophet is blasphemy.
The cartoons, which were considered insulting in the past, caused protests and drew condemnation from officials, missionaries, ordinary Muslims and many Christians. U. S.
Officials said the authorities did not investigate the film project itself, and even if the film was inflammatory or caused by violence, making the film alone in the United States could not be considered a crime. There is a strong law on freedom of speech.
A lawyer from Nakoula did not call back to the US representative. S.
The probation office did not comment on the results of the inquiry by police officer Khoa.
Shortly after midnight, Nakoula was taken out of the House by the sheriff\'s deputy and entered a waiting car, his face covered with scarves, hats and sunglasses.
\"He was never handcuffed. . .
\"It\'s all voluntary,\" Whitmore said . \" Nakoula will not return to his home immediately, he added.
Nakoula\'s name is widely linked to the film in media reports, he admitted bank fraud in 2010 and was sentenced to 21 months in prison, court documents show, the next is a five-year probation.
A criminal complaint shows that he was accused of using a Social Security number that does not match the name of the application to defraud the opening of a bank and credit card account.
He was released in June 2011 and the film was made later that summer.
The terms of Nakoula\'s release limit him to surfing the Internet or using an alias without the approval of the probation officer.
A senior law enforcement official in Washington said the probation investigation involved whether Nakoula violated one or two of the conditions.
A person familiar with the matter said the probation agency was investigating the possibility that Nakoula would be involved in making YouTube films in violation of its release terms.
Court records show that any violation of probation could result in his return to prison.
The footage of the film, which has been released on the Internet since July, is attributed to a man named Sam Basil, and two people linked to the film say it could be an alias.
It is said that a phone number of Bacile was given to Reuters by the United States. S. -
Coptic Christian activist Maurice Sadiq says he has promoted the film.
This phone number goes back to a person who lives in Nakoula.
In an interview with Reuters, a crew member of the film said he was present while filming scenes at Cerritos\'s Nakoula home.
Worried about his safety, the man did not want to use his name, and he said he was told at the time that it was the home of producer Sam Basil.
In a film clip circulating on YouTube, a unique front door displayed from the inside in a scene is almost no different from the front door of the central Culla House seen from the outside.
They all have frosted glass, halfcircular cut-
Rose design with template in wood double-door entrance.
Members of the film crew said he heard the budget was less than $100,000 and Bacile he knew was in charge of the money.
\"He said he proposed it himself,\" the man told Reuters . \".
\"He said he owned gas stations and everything else in Orange County, and he said he saved it from his pocket.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Robinson, an assistant director, said the film had a budget of $250,000.
Expired in the background
Com casting call describes the film as \"ultra-low budget,\" and commentators use the fake beard and stilts of the amateur film as evidence of its shoddy nature.
Casting calls listed the film as a \"Arabian Desert adventure history film,\" and crew members said he was told it was a work of the period shot thousands of years ago in Egypt and dealt with some of the conditions of women at the time.
He said that he was not described as Prophet Muhammad when he was making Desert Warrior.
He said the script only distributed two or three pages at a time.
In several scenes of the film circulating on YouTube, the actor\'s voice appears to be dubbed to insert conversations related to Muhammad or the Quran.
According to officials in the city of Duarte, California, where the organization\'s headquarters is located, the non-profit organization Christian Media has obtained production licenses for the film.
The tax document lists Joseph Nasrallah Abdul Masi as the head of the Christian media.
An online video released on 2010 showed that at a rally in New York, where he urged the crowd to \"Stop Islamisation in the United States\" and oppose the construction of a Muslim center at the site of the World Trade Center attack.
The film\'s staff said that some of the filming took place in the Christian media office, which broadcast satellite television programs and sought to reach audiences in the Middle East and North Africa.
He said people from the group were present during the filming.
The media representative of Christ could not be reached for comment.
When Reuters visited them the past two days, their office was closed.
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