Jailed South Park Threat Militants Post On Web
Two men jailed for threatening South Park writers over their portrayal of the Prophet Mohammed are posting writings online.
6:39pm Saturday 01 June 2013
Kyle (L) and Stan - two of the characters from the South Park show
American Islamist militants jailed for threatening violence over the internet are still posting political writings on the web from prison.
Jesse Curtis Morton, a Muslim convert, was jailed for threatening the writers of the satirical television show "South Park" for their depiction of the Prophet Mohammed in a bear outfit.
Writing under the name Younus Abdullah Muhammed, he managed to post a lengthy tract opposing US drone policy on May 21 on a website he launched in 2010. He argued the policy had encouraged homegrown Islamist extremism.
"The drone assassination of Anwar Awlaki in Yemen, an Islamic preacher with tens of thousands of ardent Western followers, has yet to be avenged but his popularity has only risen after death," Morton wrote, referring to the American Muslim preacher killed in a 2011 US drone strike in Yemen.
The former Colombia University student who is from New York is serving a prison term of more than 11 years in a Pennsylvania federal prison.
He pleading guilty in 2012 to conspiring to solicit murder, make threatening communications and "use the Internet to place others in fear".
Another American militant, Zachary Chesser, who was found guilty of conspiring with Morton to encourage attacks via the internet on the creators of "South Park," has also posted material while in prison.
His postings appear on another website and mainly air personal grievances along with some political material.
Chesser is serving a 25-year prison sentence in Marion, Illinois, for the "South Park" case and for attempting to join the Somali militant group al Shabaab.
"It is surprising and ironic that two individuals, whose extensive online activity influenced and inspired a wide network of would-be jihadists, are still able to reach those audiences from prison," said Oren Siegel, director of the Center on Extremism at the Anti-Defamation League.
Under free speech guarantees in the US Constitution, federal authorities cannot impose blanket bans on such postings by convicts, although email access is limited for prisoners, and messages inciting violence are prohibited.
"Their communications with the outside are limited to approved contacts only and subject to careful monitoring and review to ensure that they do not facilitate criminal activity or pose a threat to the public or the correctional facility," said Dean Boyd, a Justice Department spokesman.
"While we may disagree with some opinions expressed by inmates in their limited communications to approved contacts outside prison, we may not prosecute individuals for speech protected under the First Amendment," Boyd said.
