The anti-Muslim film Innocence Of Muslims is still bringing on heated debate even though it’s now well known that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula had nothing to do with the Benghazi attack. So why is a California appeals court dragging the anti-Muslim film up again?
In a related report by The Inquisitr , the final Benghazi report from the Senate confirmed the attack was preventable. Pat Smith, mother of one those slain in the attacks , blamed Hillary Clinton for allowing it to happen . Some reports also claim the Obama administration covered up Benghazi because of the CIA annex , which was said to have been funneling missiles to Syria well before Congress ever authorized helping the rebels by giving them weapons.
Following the Benghazi attack, it became quickly obvious that Nakoula Basseley Nakoula’s days were numbered despite what actually happened on the ground. During the Benghazi hearings, Gregory Hicks, claimed “[t]he YouTube video was a non-event in Libya,” despite the Obama Administration’s attempts to pin the violence in Libya to protests over a short YouTube trailer for the anti-Muslim film.
Regardless, the White House ran public service announcements in Pakistan featuring President Barack Obama saying the United States had nothing to do with the anti-Muslim video. Then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Charles Woods, the father of a Navy SEAL killed in Benghazi, that “[w]e will make sure that the person who made that film is arrested and prosecuted.”
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was arrested the day after President Obama’s re-election ostensibly for lying to his probation officer about his role in making the anti-Muslim film. Since the Obama administration wanted to blame the video for Benghazi Nakoula ended up in jail. At the time, Politico pointed out how unusual this should lead to jail time, never mind having his records sealed:
“A violation of probation, though, usually produces a court summons and doesn’t typically lead to more jail time unless it involves an offense that would be worth prosecuting in its own right under federal standards. Not for Nakoula. … Nakoula Basseley Nakoula’s underlying offense wasn’t an underlying offense. He exercised his First Amendment rights.”
Despite the fact that almost no one saw the full version of the anti-Muslim film, Innocence Of Muslims garnered an official fatwa from the imams . This overreaction is probably equal to the decision by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which also decided that the United States’ First Amendment does not matter.
The court is demanding that YouTube take down the trailer for the anti-Muslim film due to the lawsuit by actress Cindy Lee Garcia . She says she was paid to act in a movie called Desert Warrior but then her voice was dubbed over in order to produce Innocence Of Muslims . She says the threats on her life from Muslims have forced her out of her home and business.
So while Nakoula Basseley obviously was no saint, and had a long rap sheet involving fraud, the reason the anti-Muslim film is being censored is by the court is because of how it was produced:
“A clear sign that Youssef exceeded the bounds of any license is that he lied to Garcia in order to secure her participation, and she agreed to perform in reliance on that lie. Youssef’s fraud alone is likely enough to void any agreement he had with Garcia.”
What do you think about how the Obama administration used the anti-Muslim film during the Benghazi scandal? Do you think it’s right that Nakoula Basseley’s first amendment rights are being taken away due to the way he misled the actors and actresses?