Nakoula Basseley Nakoula
| Nakoula Basseley Nakoula | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1957 (age 59–60) Egypt |
| Other names |
|
| Occupation | Former gas station owner; Convicted fraudster. |
| Known for | Key figure in production of the anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims |
Mark Basseley Youssef, formerly known as Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (born 1957), is an Egyptian-born Coptic Christian, a U.S. resident who is a writer, producer and promoter of Innocence of Muslims, an anti-Islamic video that is perceived by many to denigrate Islam's prophet, Muhammad.
On 2 July 2012, a "Sam Bacile", who was later identified as Nakoula, posted English-language promotional trailers for Innocence of Muslims on YouTube. The videos were later dubbed into Arabic and posted on the internet in September 2012. Demonstrations and violent protests against the video broke out on September 11 in Egypt and spread to other Arab and Muslim nations and some western countries. The protests led to hundreds of injuries and more than 50 deaths.
On 27 September 2012, U.S. federal authorities stated that Nakoula had been arrested in Los Angeles and charged with violating terms of his probation. Prosecutors stated that the violations included making false statements regarding his role in the film and his use of the alias "Sam Bacile".
On 7 November 2012, Nakoula pleaded guilty to four of the charges against him and was sentenced to one year in prison and four years of supervised release.
Nakoula was born in Egypt, and speaks an Egyptian dialect of Arabic. In a September 2012 interview with Voice of America's Arabic language station, Radio Sawa, he claimed he was a graduate of the Faculty of Arts at Cairo University and a researcher of Islamic thought. At some point, he emigrated to Southern California where he operated gas stations in Hawaiian Gardens, California. and resided in Cerritos, in Los Angeles County, California Nakoula attended a number of Coptic churches in the area, including St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Bellflower, but was not a regular member.
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