Man tied to anti-Islam film jailed in LA

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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- The filmmaker alleged to be behind an inflammatory anti-Islam video that sparked rioting across the Muslim world was in a Los Angeles federal prison Friday.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was taken under heavy security to the city's downtown Metropolitan Detention Center and placed in protective custody Thursday night after a judge ordered him seized for violating probation, officials said.

The prison holds male and female inmates before and during court proceedings.

Federal prosecutors had argued in U.S. District Court the Coptic Christian with earlier criminal convictions and a history of using aliases posed a flight risk and should remain in custody.

Nakoula's attorney, Steve Seiden, argued unsuccessfully Nakoula should be freed on bond, saying his client would be in danger at the prison because of its large Muslim population. He also denied Nakoula violated probation.

Judge Suzanne H. Segal agreed Nakoula, an Egyptian-born U.S. resident, was a flight risk and said he posed "some danger to the community." She also said he had repeatedly lied to probation officials.

"The court has a lack of trust in the defendant at this time," the Los Angeles Times quoted her as saying.

Nakoula will remain in jail until a probation-revocation hearing is scheduled.

Nakoula is widely considered the filmmaker responsible for "Innocence of Muslims," an amateurish video that is supposed to be a trailer for a full-length film.

The video depicts the Prophet Muhammad as a womanizing, child molesting, bisexual buffoon and religious fake.

It was first uploaded to YouTube in English by someone using the name "Sam Bacile" July 2. It was translated into Arabic and uploaded several more times in September.

Riots and protests erupted starting on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks on New York and Washington.

As part of the violence, heavily armed attackers killed U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other State Department officers at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. U.S. officials later said the Benghazi attack was probably planned in advance and not specifically prompted by the film.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday linked the attack to al-Qaida's North Africa franchise, known as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, an al-Qaida affiliate originating in Algeria.

If Nakoula, who actors allege used the name Sam Bacile during the making of the movie, posted the video on YouTube, he would have violated the terms of his sentencing in a conviction in a 2010 check-kiting bank-fraud case. His sentence restricted his use of the Internet.

Nakoula was charged Thursday with eight probation violations, including lying to law enforcement officers when they first detained him for questioning, and using aliases, which assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Dugdale said was "part of a lengthy pattern of deception."

Nakoula has used at least 14 aliases during illicit activities, including Ahmed Hamdy, Daniel K. Caresman, Kritbag Difrat and P.J. Tobacco, Wired magazine reported.

As "Sam Bacile," a supposed Israeli-American real estate developer in California, he told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Sept. 13 the video had been made for $5 million obtained from Jewish donors. He called Islam a "cancer."