Boing Boing » sam basile

Mystery around anti-muslim filmmaker and fraudster deepens as yet another alias is revealed

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:16:35 +0000

As if "Sam Bacile," "PJ Tobacco," and dozens more colorful fake names weren't enough, the "Innocence of Muslims" guy apparently had yet another alias. A California judge has detained him for violating the terms of his probation by using a computer to make and upload the crappy and controversial film to YouTube.

Man behind "Innocence of Muslims" video ordered jailed for violating fraud probation by using computers

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:27:44 +0000

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula escorted by LA County Sherriff's deputies from his home in Cerritos, CA. Photo: AP/CBS2-KCAL9, LA.

A federal judge today determined that California resident Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (aka Sam Bacile), one of the men behind a crappy, anti-Islamic YouTube video linked to violent protests in the Middle East and the death of a US ambassador, "is a flight risk" and must be jailed. Snip from AP:

Citing a lengthy pattern of deception, U.S. Central District Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal said Nakoula Basseley Nakoula should be held after officials said he violated his probation from a 2010 check fraud conviction.
‘‘The court has a lack of trust in this defendant at this time,’’ Segal said.
Nakoula had eight probation violations, including lying to his probation officers and using aliases, and he might face new charges that carry a maximum two-year prison term, authorities said.
After his 2010 conviction, Nakoula was sentenced to 21 months in prison and was barred from using computers or the Internet for five years without approval from his probation officer.

Read the full AP item here.

Noah Shachtman at Wired News' Danger Room has more on this story development, here. Snip:

It’s only the latest in a 21 year-long series of run-ins with the law. In August of 1991, Nakoula, who own a gas station, was convicted on two counts of selling watered-down fuel. Six years later, he was arrested on charges related to the manufacture of PCP. Then came the 2009 arrest for using 14 different identities to pass off bogus checks. Among them: Kritbag Difrat and P.J. Tobacco. Afterwards, Nakoula turned informant against the supposed ringleader of the check kiting ring, and in received a relatively light penalty for participation in the scheme: a $794,700 fine, 21 months in federal custody, and an order to keep his hands off of the keyboard and mouse.

Thumbnail: Nakoula with one of the actors in "Innocence of Muslims," via NY Daily News.

(thanks, Aileen Graef)

Pakistan blocks YouTube over "Innocence of Muslims"

Xeni Jardin — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 01:08:44 +0000

The government of Pakistan blocked access to YouTube today, after Google refused to remove the craptacular trailer for "Innocence of Muslims" linked to violent protests around the the Muslim world. Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf ordered the ban to prevent further violence, according to the Pakistani paper Dawn, and YouTube responded with a statement acknowledging restricted access to the content in various countries, "given the very sensitive situations."

Meet some of the curious characters linked to “Innocence of Muslims” film

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:52:34 +0000

At the ADL blog, a rundown of Anti-Muslim Christian Activists linked to the “Innocence of Muslims” film. One of them, anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller associate Joseph Nasralla, stars in the YouTube video above.

It's all too murky for me, still, to accept the story at face value. Laura Rozen has been a good source of analysis on Twitter; a blog post from her analyzing the loose threads is here.

Also: Nakoula Basseley Nakoula aka "Sam Bacile" aka was taken into custody today by federal authorities. The issue at hand may be whether the ex-con violated terms of parole by using a computer in the production of the YouTube video. In searing Los Angeles heat, Nakoula exited his home voluntarily, wearing a hat, sunglasses, a towel around his face, and a heavy winter coat. The LA Times reports that he and others associated with "Innocence" are receiving death threats.

The "Courageous Christians United" website today displays a statement distancing itself from Steve Klein, who has been identified as having been involved in the video's production.

Meanwhile, the protests have spread to... Australia.

Here's Boing Boing's archive of posts related to this wacky, still-evolving story.

White House asks YouTube to "review" that anti-Muslim video blamed for global freakouts

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:46:16 +0000

"There's no indication that the government is questioning the right of these idiots to make that repellent film. On the other hand, it does make us nervous when the government throws its weight behind any requests for censorship," the American Civil Liberties Union's Ben Wizner said in an interview Friday.

Bomb threats linked to "Innocence of Muslims" lead to evacuations at 3 US college campuses

Xeni Jardin — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:51:43 +0000

Three schools in Texas, North Dakota and Ohio were evacuated today after bomb threats apparently linked to the "Innocence of Muslims" YouTube video freakout prompted officials to issue evacuation orders. More at Associated Press. And here are our archives.

Middle East mobs freaking the hell out over YouTube video

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:59:36 +0000

This story is so weird. And with every advancement this week, it just gets weirder.

"Fury about a film that insults the Prophet Mohammad tore across the Middle East after weekly prayers on Friday with protesters attacking U.S. embassies and burning American flags as the Pentagon rushed to bolster security at its missions," reports Reuters.

Tunisia, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, Afghanistan, 20 countries so far are involved, just three days after the bizarrely bad YouTube video triggered (or was used as an excuse for) an attack on the U.S. consulate in the Libya that killed an ambassador and three other Americans on September 11. And outrage is spreading beyond the mideast, to Muslim centers in Asia and elsewhere.

Of course, one could rightly argue that the outrage isn't really about the video—but about the fallout of years of US wars in the region. A trigger, if you will, but not the underlying cause of the conflict.

The New York Times has more:

The broadening of the protests appeared to reflect a pent-up resentment of Western powers in general, and defied pleas for restraint from world leaders including the new Islamist president of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, whose country was the instigator of the demonstrations that erupted four days earlier on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Below, screengrab of a very useful Google Map of the protests, assembled by some guy named John.

Gawker outs director of "Innocence of Muslims" as softcore porn director

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:54:13 +0000

A reasonably big scoop from Adrian Chen at Gawker: "The anti-Islam film that's set off a firestorm in the Middle East was directed by a 65-year-old schlock director named Alan Roberts, we've confirmed. He's the creative vision behind softcore porn classics like The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood" And related, more of the actors in this film are coming out to give press interviews claiming they were duped. At least one of them has a string of porn credits to his name. More: Boing Boing news archive for "Innocence of Muslims."

More signs point to "Media for Christ" firm behind "Innocence of Muslims"

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 23:50:11 +0000

Marlow Stern at The Daily Beast reports on more evidence that right-wing-wacko Pam Geller associate Joseph Nasrallah ("Media For Christ") may be the producer of the "Sam Bacile" hate video, "Innocence of Muslims." More: Boing Boing news archive for "Innocence of Muslims." (via Max Blumenthal)

Man believed to be "Innocence of Muslims" filmmaker once arrested for making PCP

Xeni Jardin — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 18:22:26 +0000

Yesterday, I posted an update on the stranger-by-the-day story of "Innocence of Muslims"—the craptacular film trailer (the actual feature may or may not even exist) is blamed for a string of violent attacks by ultra-conservative Muslims, including one in Libya that led to the death of a US ambassador and other US agents at an embassy.

The trailer is sort of like Birth of a Nation meets Bed Intruder meets Team America: World Police.

The story got weirder as news organizations traced the identity of the person, or persons, operating behind the apparent pseudonym of "filmmaker Sam Bacile." Noah Shachtman at Danger Room digs into public records and finds that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the primary guy using the "Bacile" alias, was arrested in 1997 for manufacturing drugs: angel dust and crystal meth. He has also been convicted of financial fraud charges.

Laura Rozen wonders how it is possible that Nakoula was released from prison one month, and was out directing this schlock-hate-film a month later. Was he an informant? If this is a disinfo job, by whom and to what end?

Meanwhile, Vice digs in a different direction, unearthing documents and raising even more questions about another linked character who uses the name "Robert Brownell."

I haz a confused.

More: Boing Boing news archive for "Innocence of Muslims."

Report: Mysterious gentleman behind Anti-Muhammad movie an ex-meth cook

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 20:33:43 +0000

"Innocence of Muslims," the spectacularly crappy anti-Muslim movie trailer linked to recent violence in Libya, and the death of a US ambassador and others? The guy credited as its filmmaker, "Sam Bacile," has been outed as one Nakoula Basseley Nakoula.

Noah Shachtman at Wired News reports that "Bacile" was one of many pseudonyms used by Nakoula. Others include Matthew Nekola; Ahmed Hamdy; Amal Nada; Daniel K. Caresman; Kritbag Difrat; Sobhi Bushra; Robert Bacily; Nicola Bacily; Thomas J. Tanas; Erwin Salameh; Mark Basseley Youssef; Yousseff M. Basseley; Malid Ahlawi; and my favorite, P.J. Tobacco.

He first told news outlets he was an Israeli Jew; law enforcement authorities have since identified him as a Coptic Christian immigrant with a shady past. He reportedly has a criminal record including at least one narcotics conviction: an LA County District Attorney’s office source says he was arrested by the L.A. Country Sheriff's Department in 1997 and charged with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.

Lots more about him and the other shady dudes linked to the project at the Daily Beast:

Doubts about Bacile’s identity began to surface after the film’s consultant, Steve Klein, told another news organization that “Bacile” was a pseudonym and that he was not Jewish or Israeli. Klein, an insurance agent in Hemet, Calif., said the money used to finance the low-budget flop came from a mixed bag of donors, including Middle Easterners, Jewish people, Christians, and former Muslims.
Klein, who spent the majority of yesterday giving interviews to local television and print reporters, has a dubious background himself. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which wrote about Klein and his affiliation with a California extremist evangelical group called Church at Kaweah that is said to have roots in the militia movement, noted Klein once bragged about leading a “hunter killer” team as a marine in Vietnam.
According to the Law Center article, which appeared in the Intelligence Report in the spring of 2012, Klein stated that California is riddled with Muslim Brotherhood sleeper cells “who are awaiting the trigger date and will begin randomly killing as many of us as they can.”

Klein refers to Islam as a “penis-driven religion.” This is the weirdest story ever. Who the fuck are these guys, and who's really behind this whole thing? Hisham Matar at the New Yorker digs into some possible theories.

As some of our Boing Boing commenters have pointed out, the fact that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula has a history of financial fraud may explain why $5 million was reportedly raised for the feature but the trailer looks so shitty. And, there's some doubt as to whether the full-length feature even exists.

Wacko Koran-burning pastor Terry Jones is linked to the story, too. Gawker has more. And the Smoking Gun has the dox on Bakoula's criminal past. And the New York Times reports that violence has spread to Yemen and Iran.

More: Boing Boing news archive for "Innocence of Muslims."

Crappy YouTube trailer leads to death of US diplomat and others...

Snapshots from Benghazi

Xeni Jardin — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:20:01 +0000

Bassam Tariq of 30 Days Ramadan points us to a series of images making the rounds on Facebook, Twitter, and the like today. The snapshots are ostensibly reactions to the recent violence related to a weird, anti-Islam YouTube trailer for a film produced by a mysterious character with a shady past.

The whole story behind that video and the attacks linked to it is perplexing, and the more that comes to light, the more it feels like a strange disinfo job. But I have no idea by whom, and to what end.

More images here. I don't know who shot them, and am unable to verify that they are what they appear to be as I post.

More: Boing Boing news archive for "Innocence of Muslims."

Crappy YouTube trailer leads to death of US diplomat and others in Mideast

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 14:36:09 +0000

Update: The whole thing sounds like a weird disinfo job. But, by whom and to what end? The AP has outed "Sam Bacile" as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, a Coptic Christian who claims the film supports the concerns of Christian Copts about their treatment by Muslims. On The Media notes that there's something fishy about the film dialogue. And Gawker has spoken to one of the actresses in the film, who says she had no idea what the film was really about.

The Associated Press identifies Sam Bacile as an Israeli filmmaker based in California who made an independently produced and financed anti-Muslim movie that's sort of "Birth of a Nation" meets "Bed Intruder." The YouTube trailer is embedded above, and it unapologetically attacks Islam’s prophet Muhammad. Bacile has no known prior history as a filmmaker.

His D-grade web trailer inspired (or, alternately, was used as cover for) attacks by ultra-conservative Muslims on U.S. missions in Egypt and Libya. J Christopher Stevens, America's ambassador to Libya, and three American members of his staff were killed today in resulting violence.

From the Associated Press:

Speaking by phone Tuesday from an undisclosed location, writer and director Sam Bacile remained defiant, saying Islam is a cancer and that the 56-year-old intended his film to be a provocative political statement condemning the religion. Protesters angered over Bacile’s film opened fire on and burned down the U.S. consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi. Libyan officials said Wednesday that Ambassador Chris Stevens was killed Tuesday night when he and a group of embassy employees went to the consulate to try to evacuate staff as the building came under attack by a mob firing machine guns and rocket propelled grenades.

Bacile is a real estate developer in California who identifies himself as an Israeli Jew. “Islam is a cancer, period,” he told the AP. The video above is a trailer for his two-hour movie, “Innocence of Muslims,” which cost $5 million to produce and was, according to the director, backed by funding from 100 Jewish donors. There's an English version and an Arabic-dubbed version of the trailer here. Bacile reports that the entire film has been shown "once, to a mostly empty theater in Hollywood earlier this year."

Here is a list of other ambassadors who have died in the line of duty. Here is a Reuters slideshow of protesters outside the embassy in Libya.

Here, a longtime real-life and internet-space friend of Sean Smith, an officer in the U.S. Foreign Service stationed at the consulate writes about his life, legacy, and loss. Sean Smith was an EVE player and Something Awful forums moderator.

I’m clearly in shock as I write this as everything is buzzing around my head funnily and I feel kind of dead inside. I’m not sure if this is how I’m supposed to react to my friend being killed by a mob in a post-revolutionary Libya, but it’s pretty awful and Sean was a great guy and he was a goddamned master at this game we all play, even though a lot of people may not realize how significant an influence he had. It seems kind of trivial to praise a husband, father, and overall badass for his skills in an internet spaceship game but that's how most of us know him, so there you go.

Here's a thread at Something Awful that chronicles the live board reaction as news of Smith's death in the attack spread.

Below, via the Atlantic, a video of Ambassador Stevens at work

More: Boing Boing news archive for "Innocence of Muslims."