Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for encouraging jihad on South Park creators
By Virginia SmithFebruary 24th, 2011, 7:00 pmComments (3)
21-year-old Zachary Adam Chesser has been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for threatening South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone as well as their writing team over an episode in which the Prophet Mohammed was depicted wearing a bear suit. Chesser, was born and raised in the U.S. converted to Islam as a high school student, has admitted to posting online threats encouraging jihadist attacks on the show's writers, posting their home addresses and telling readers to "pay them a visit." The U.S. Attorney for the case had this to say about Chesser:
"His actions caused people throughout the country to fear speaking out -- even in jest -- to avoid being labeled as enemies who deserved to be killed. The fact that a young man from Northern Virginia could support such violence and terror is a sobering reminder of the serious threat that homegrown jihadists pose to this country."
Chesser, who pled guilty, has since apologized, while the good people over at South Park are presumably now free to continue drawing deities into any and all mascot costumes of their choosing.
Commentarium (3 Comments)
Wish I could come up with posts that cool.
In Modern Standard Arabic, jihad is one of the correct terms for a struggle for any cause, violent or not, religious or secular (though كفاح kifāḥ is also used). For instance, Mahatma Gandhi's satyagraha struggle for Indian independence is called a "jihad" in Modern Standard Arabic (as well as many other dialects of Arabic); the terminology is also applied to the fight for women's liberation.
Now you say something