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September 14, 2012

California Man with Criminal Past ID’d as Key Figure Behind Anti-Islam Film 
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U.S. authorities have officially identified the key figure behind the
anti-Islam film, "Innocence of Muslims," that sparked the protests.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula is a 55-year-old Southern California resident
with a checkered past involving drug convictions and bank fraud. He was
sentenced to nearly two years in prison in 2010 for financial crimes and
is barred from using the Internet without approval under the terms of
his supervised release. He told the Associated Press he was a Coptic
Christian. Meanwhile, an actress who participated in the film said
actors were deceived about the nature of the video and did not realize
it was anti-Islam. Instead they were given a script entitled "Desert
Warriors" that was purported to be about life in ancient Egypt, but
words like Muhammad and other references to Islam were dubbed over their
voices after the filming.

 

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