Chesser faces 30 years jail

An American Muslim faces up to 30 years in prison after admitting that he encouraged attacks on the writers of South Park.

Zachary Adam Chesser, 20, was said to be outraged by the comedy’s storylines featuring Muhammad.

He also admitted supporting a Somali Islamist militant group, al-Shabab, which is designated as a terrorist group.

In April this year, he posted an online ‘warning’ to the creators of South Park suggesting that they would be killed for depicting the prophet in their 200th episode.

Prosecutors said he also posted onto an Islamist militant website the personal information of people who had joined an ‘Everybody Draw Muhammad Day’ group on Facebook.

US Attorney Neil MacBride said in a statement: ‘Zachary Chesser seriously endangered the lives of innocent people who will remain at risk for many years to come.

‘His solicitation of extremists to murder US citizens also caused people throughout the country to fear speaking out - even in jest - lest they also be labelled as enemies who deserved to be killed.’

He threatened the South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone on a variety of websites, including his Twitter page.

In one post, he invoked the memory Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker who was killed in 2004 over his film about women in Muslim societies.

Chesser wrote: ‘We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh if they do air this show.’

In the show, Muhammad – who many Muslims believe should never be depicted – was shown wearing a bear suit. South Park previously depicted Muhammad as a superhero in the 2001 episode Super Best Friends.

Published: 21 Oct 2010