Dennis RomeroAs TV news crews camped outside his Cerritos home, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the Coptic Christian widely believed to be behind the incendiary, anti-Islamic film Innocence of Muslims, was taken away in a sheriff's vehicle to be questioned by authorities tonight.
An L.A. County Sheriff's Department official confirmed to the Weekly that Nakoula was taken to meet with federal probation officials to be questioned.
According to the deputy …
… the producer went voluntarily to discuss matters with federal law enforcement officers. The sheriff's official told us:
He just voluntarily went to the sheriff's station to meet and talk to federal probation officers. Yes, he was given a ride.
The issue appears to be the terms of Nakoula's probation in connection with a 2010 conviction for bank fraud.
Under a deal with federal prosecutors the 55-year-old was supposed to stay away from the Internet, but many reports argue that he might have been posting Innocence of Muslims videos on YouTube under the psuedonym Sam Bacile.
That, then, would make it appear that he violated the terms of his probation. The final judgement on the situation, however, remains to be seen.
Innocence. which features adult performers and has all the trappings of a comical, C-movie, has enraged some in the Muslim world for its portrayal of Mohammed as a woman-beater and child-molester.
On Tuesday the U.S. ambassador to Libya as well as two former U.S. Navy SEALS-turned-bodyguards and one other American were killed in violence attributed, at least in part, to Arab outrage over the L.A.-made film.
[Updated at 8:20 p.m. Sunday]: Sheriff's officials said that, after the interview, which reports indicated last about 30 minutes, Nakoula had no plans to return home to an encampment of news vans. His whereabouts are unkown.
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