Alleged Maker of Anti-Muslim Video Jailed in Fraud Case

A man believed to be behind an anti-Muslim video that spawned international protests was held without bail in Los Angeles, after federal authorities arrested him earlier in the day for allegedly violating the terms of probation on his 2010 conviction. Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal said Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the 55-year-old alleged filmmaker, had a history of misrepresenting himself and posed a flight risk in denying a request for bail. "The court has a lack of trust in this defendant at this time," the judge said. Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles have accused Nakoula of eight violations of the terms of his probation for a 2010 bank-fraud conviction. Some critics have said the probation-violation probe of Nakoula was a sign the White House was seeking to appease extremists and weakening U.S. speech freedoms. U.S. law-enforcement officials portrayed the investigation of Nakoula as a routine response to public information about a potential violation.