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Judge Orders Man Behind Anti-Muslim Film Jailed

A federal judge in Los Angeles has ordered the man behind the anti-Islamic video that is believed to have sparked deadly protests in the Muslim world to be detained.

The Associated Press reports that U.S. Central District Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal ordered Nakoula Basseley Nakoula held Thursday afternoon. He was deemed a flight risk.

Our original post continues:

The man behind the anti-Islamic video that is believed to have sparked deadly protests in the Muslim world was arrested Thursday for violating terms of his probation.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, was on probation for bank fraud, for which he spent 21 months in a federal prison. He was taken into custody Thursday, U.S. Attorney's spokesman Thomas Mrozek said.

A U.S. District Court hearing scheduled Thursday for Nakoula was closed to media and the public.

Nakoula was identified as the "key figure" behind Innocence of Muslims, the film that sparked riots across the Muslim world. His arrest comes on the same day one of the actresses in the film took her civil case against him to federal court in Los Angeles.

Here's more from CNN:

"In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles, Cindy Lee Garcia, an ordained minister and actor, asserts that Nakoula violated copyright law over her performance in the film, leading her to believe the movie was a historical adventure titled 'Desert Warrior.' When Nakoula allegedly posted a trailer on YouTube in July, it falsely portrayed Garcia as a character who made incendiary accusations against the Prophet Mohammed, the suit says."

Nakoula, a Christian originally from Egypt, went into hiding after he was identified as the man behind the film.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Krishnadev Calamur is NPR's deputy Washington editor. In this role, he helps oversee planning of the Washington desk's news coverage. He also edits NPR's Supreme Court coverage. Previously, Calamur was an editor and staff writer at The Atlantic. This is his second stint at NPR, having previously worked on NPR's website from 2008-15. Calamur received an M.A. in journalism from the University of Missouri.