DOCUMENT: Internet, Crime

"South Park" Jihadi Was '08 Obama Volunteer

Radicalized wannabe later decided Koran barred vote

South Park bear

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Zachary Chesser Case

MAY 20--The radicalized knucklehead convicted of threatening the lives of the “South Park” creators signed up as a volunteer for Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, but by the time Election Day arrived he had concluded it would be a violation of Islamic law to vote in the U.S. election, according to court records.

Wannabe jihadi Zachary Chesser, 21, was sentenced earlier this year to 25 years in federal prison following his guilty plea to making the “South Park” threats as well as providing material support to terrorists (in this case the Somali guerilla group Al-Shabaab).

Chesser, pictured in the mug shot at right, has cooperated with FBI agents and helped prosecutors building a case against Jessie Curtis Morton, with whom Chesser operated the extremist Revolution Muslim web site. Morton was named last week in a felony criminal complaint charging him with threatening the lives of Matt Stone and Trey Parker over a “South Park” episode that included the Prophet Muhammad dressed in a bear suit.

In U.S. District Court filings, Chesser’s lawyer and family members described him as a passionate young man whose interests pinballed from subject to subject (sports, Japanese anime, break dancing, heavy metal, Buddhism, Islam) and often turned on a dime. His attorney reported that despite Chesser’s “increasing devotion to a rigid form of Islam,” he “volunteered to campaign in the 2008 presidential election.” However, “by the time the election came on November 4, 2008, Mr. Chesser had become convinced it would be a violation of Islamic law to vote.”

In a character letter, Chesser’s stepmother recalled him “ranting about how the Koran says he can’t support Obama even though he had signed up to help with the campaign."

Chesser apologized in a “Statement of Responsibility” for the “harm and pain I have caused,” noting that he was “ashamed and bewildered that I was capable of doing it.” Chesser added that, “I have always been a pacificist” and “The jihadi ideology I was drawn into was contrary to everything I had grown up thinking and believing.”

Before this revelation, Chesser--now imprisoned at the federal penitentiary in Marion, Illinois--viewed the “South Park” controversy as an opportunity to further disseminate radical messages. In fact, in a wiretapped April 2010 conversation with Morton, Chesser reported that the term “Revolution Muslim” was then the “68th most searched term on Google,” according to the Morton criminal complaint. (3 pages)

Comments (43)

I blame Sarah Palin and the Baggers everything wrong with the world today is their diong.
"Blame" that's pretty much all you liberals have.
Apparently, Chesser has affected South Park writing. Note how many episodes they've made since that would give any muslim reason to target South Park. Now compare it to the dozens of episodes they've made that denigrates Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn't need a defender.
Just another patriotic liberal.
I love this site, good Jerry Springer material. I like all the comments from people who really believe they can make a difference by posting their political views on every story line that is presented on this site.
Speaking of Jerry. You and your sister going back on soon?
A radical liberal is an obama supporter? No news here.
Rush Limbaugh vowed to eat double portions of pork chops and mashed potatoes with gravy until the teabaggers place forth viable presidential candidates. Beck, Palin and Bachmann vowed to stop taking their psychosis inhibitor medication until Trump shows his real hairline.
Good grief Mo Ma', what an obvious (and quite immature) way to try to change the subject off of how leftists' are a threat to us all with their misguided political views, anti-Americanisn and willingness to consort with the enemy. Didn't you once say Mo Ma' meant a Chinese man or something to that effect? Perhaps you meant to say juvenile.
Mo Ma' is a Chinese mans' name.
Hey Bubba you have another type like John Phillip Walker Lindh coming . Get your vaseline jars ready he's getting what he really wants and its not 72 virgins.
what i'm trying to say is that nothing is compared with write my paper topic, which could be really interesting to share us apart, if you know what i mean by saying such things
That doesn't even form a coherent sentence.
Now they need to go after Katherine Windels for her death threats against Governor Scott Walker, and put her away for at least 25 years. I bet she is back in school corrupting the minds of the children she is supposed to be helping.
She sure should and no she isn't.
Stop saying "Mohammed was in the bear costume." It's a 2D object in an animated show. There's literally nothing "in" anything. And, it was only teased that Islam's prophet was in there. (SPOILER) The reveal was that Mohammed was safely hidden by the boys in an alley and they had used Santa as a decoy to trick the Ginger Kids and Tom Cruise. So even if someone was "in" the costume, it never was Mohammed. If you keep saying Mohammed was in the bear costume, you're going to get someone killed or hurt because you're spreading misinformation about the situation.
Jeez, this kid looks like a whitebread hipster doofus. Why the hell would he get involved with those stupid sandbaggers?
Uhhh...he looks very ethnically Muslim.
Good. One misguided Neomaxizoomdweebie down, several million to go...
I hope this religious zealout doesn't get parole. It's high time we stop letting the pious bully us around! Go to hell, whackjob.
You have to be a total loser to reach out to any extremist group. Perhaps this clown will need 25 years to realize the boneheaded choices he made. Death to Al Qaeda! Death to the Taliban! Death to strippers and oral sex! Check that. Almost got carried away there. No death to strippers and oral sex. Love them both. Death to Donald Trump, Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin's pie holes!
And you're not extremist, being that you call for the deaths of 3 Americans? But wait, you'll say.."No, I called for the deaths of their pie holes." Same still want bodily harm to come to them. If I were a leftist, I'd say you sound like a dangerous, violent person who needs to be investigated.
* Opens shades. Looks out the window to make sure the liberals aren't coming. Closes shades.
Shades stay open..... Come on! You honestly think conservatives fear wimpy leftists? That's the funniest thing you've said yet.
As long as you see the difference in radical Muslim terrorists and the left I'm happy. And yes, I did lol.
Awww....he kind'a looks like that Teddy Bear in that picture, doesn't he? Poor guy, he's just a mixed up little leftist puppet who doesn't know what he wants out of life except to bury the right and dismantle America because he's had it drummed into his head by leftist teachers, college professors and others who deem America to be evil and corrupt. He was so mixed up, he was willing to join with the enemy to bring down his own country. The scary thing about it, is that there are millions of other people just like him with the same beliefs who haven't been caught yet (funny how quickly he changed his tune after facing reality). And they're commenting on message boards like this one, spewing their leftist rhetoric. Hey, it's not just me saying this, the proof is this in this article.
They are commenting on message boards like this one? This is not a radical Muslim revolution website. I have never seen a liberal post anything that even vaguely suggests becoming a terrorist. If you think writing liberal posts is terroristic behavior I want to make it clear to you you that it is not. Your paranoia fueled by politics is what some may call radical. Chill out dude
Whoa! Sorry, didn't mean to scare you there, Working Liberal. I know it makes you nervous to think that terrorists actually exist and that the left is blindly and naively giving them support by posting anti-American comments, but calm down.....we conservatives will protect you and fix it just as we have always done after you leftists make a mess of things. I hope you thank a soldier or veteran whenever you come across one and then also apologize for your part in trying to bring this country down, making their job even harder.
You want the truth, you can't handle the truth. I would just rather you said thank you and be on your way, otherwise stand a post.
Every veteran deserves to receive the best support this country can provide. From the wealthy to the struggling. Social issues are what many veterans are proud to have fight/fought for. They are heroes... There is and never be anything anti American coming from our "leftist" posts. You just happen to have an f'd up perception of what being American is. That's why it's so frustrating to try and reason with you. You are an a$$.
Tsk,tsk, calling again. You honestly can't help it, can you? Leftists obviously have no self control and can't comprehend that, that sort of behavior doesn't help your cause. If leftists aren't anti-American as you say (and you do post anti-American comments every time you defend a leftist), then why are you all constantly trying to change the Constitution and what America has always stood for which is capitalism, freedom and liberty from a tyrannical government? Leftists support a leftist president who seeks to fundamentally change (his own words) everything America has been and try to mold it into what he wants it to be which is his foolhardy ideal of a socialistic country that would lose it's freedoms as his regime increasingly becomes tyrannical. Even now, Obama's regime has taken a stand against any media outlet that dares to criticize him and calls them out and seeks to crush them. Shades of China, The Soviet Union, North Korea andCuba, no? If you can't see that we have reason to be concerned about communism creeping in on us, then you are the one with the f'd up perception of what America is. You say our veterans fought for social issues.....probably not what you have in mind, but sort of because they fought and still do fight for our safety and defend us from tyrants and communism (which socialism leads to) which you leftists wish to bring down on our heads! Even more so now, you need to apologize to our past and present military, especially for helping the anti-American left put them and (all of America) in danger.
People on the left do not deem America to be evil and corrupt. People on the left deem you and everyone like you to be evil and corrupt. Also greedy, Godless and soulless. Every comment you make here shows your blatant hatred for everyone and everything you don't agree with and reading between the lines, it's easy to see you would have little trouble using violence to further your agenda.
Or "people on the left deem anyone who doesn't think like them to be evil and corrupt."
Tobyspeeks is definitely one of those mixed up people who perpetuates blatant lies. He/she doesn't even know that the right is conservative and typically Christian and the left is liberal and typically athiest and/or agnostic, so his/her comments make no sense. I show no hatred for anyone on this board like the leftist do as they call ugly names and make nasty statements. And sorry, it won't work trying to invoke the use of suggesting that I'm violent. We all know that leftists use that ploy to try to shut conservatives up and we all know that the left is certainly capable of being violent...forget Jared Loughner already? And who stages violent protests and makes violent threats? Certainly not conservatives. Look to the leftists in the unions and leftist college students for that. Feeling a bit hypocritical, yet?
Love Our Vets? And you're a Republican? WOW - talk about a major laugh! I'm a vet and here's some facts, even though I understand you guys are allergic to them. For starters - why don't you get the pdf found here: After you're done counting - explain to me how, of the 156 D or lower marks - 152 went to Republicans, now, how did 92 of 94 A or better marks go to Democrats? In 2008 - the Dem.s did better too, in 2006 they wiped the floor with the GOP in terms of veteran support. Oh - and it isn't just the IAVA that has real problems with GOP support - but so does the DAV, VVA, AMVETS and others. You get the truth for yourself from Project Vote Smart - don't forget to pursue a few of the bills all the way back to thomas.loc - and then to the CSPAN archives so you can hear for yourself - some of the vile crap spewed by your hero's about veteran support while starting two wars, one unnecessairly - and couldn't figure out how to end either one. Love vets? I think not - you Grotesquely Obtuse Pig.
Oh brother, another immature leftist who can't help but call names. Your heroes must be John Kerry and Wesley Clark. Here we go again...I never said I was a Republican. I'm not. And I don't believe in govenrment support and over taxing the public to achieve it like you Democrats do. There are churches and private organizations who do a much better job of helping veterans than the government does. I have no use for public programs like CSPAN or PBS or even Project Vote Smart that masquerades as being politically unbiased because of course, any votes will go to the Democrats when Democrats are the majority of people who go to to those sites. Not every veteran belongs to a veteran organization because they get on with their lives and they don't dwell on their time of service, but others need support or wish to give support and many tend to vote Democrat (though it varies chapter to chapter), so again their votes and opinions don't speak for all veterans. Are you forgetting the role the Democrats played with the Vietnam war?
Last I checked our party which is more willing to be moderate did not branch off and create a double dose of liberal party. Your idea that loughner was a liberal just doesn't make sense. Last I checked liberals don't believe in running around shooting other liberals nor do they believe in shooting any other American. Don't go shooting your mouth off saying we are violently protesting. I'm not sure why peacefully protesting demanding their right to negotiate and exist upsets you so much. Tea party rallies can certainly be considered much more angry. Come on! You don't even think the president is American. You are radical and that's why people get angry with you.
Oh man! mentioned the word 'shooting' (twice!). If that's not violent, I don't know what is!...but that's ok, I guess since you did use the word, 'peaceful'. Seriously, you really need to check in with your party more often if you can't see what it's become (radically left). The only people who get angry with me are leftists such as yourself. You can try to deny it all you want, but until you stop spewing leftist rhetoric, no one will believe you. Conservatives don't want to be moderate wimps, so if that makes us radical in your eyes, than so be it. At least, we are taking a stand against the demise of our country while all you do is call names and make insulting and untrue comments. And I never said Obama isn't American, though I do think he's a leftist who is misleading the country purposely for his own agenda. According to your comments, you are definitely angrier with me than I am of you, but that's because as a conservative, I have the ability and maturity to be more tolerant of those I disagree with and can debate the issues without making nasty personal insults. And that's because I'm not really concerned with what anyone thinks of me, but am more concerned for the well being of the country and future generations. You leftists might want to adopt that attitude, yourselves.
#1 - Radically Left? Are you serious? Both parties are right of centre, one just more so than the other. Try doing some research as to what the political spectrum consists of before you state these things. Marxism or communism would be left, and not even radically left. #2 - All politicians lead for their own agenda - every single person on this planet works to their own agenda, politicians more so; that's why they're politicians. #3 - Just because you are conservative (I note you didn't capitalise the 'c', though you probably don't know what the capitalisation even means) doesn't make you more mature or tolerant. You seem to jump on the same old bandwagon of bashing these 'leftists' as you put it (which, by the way, is appalling English) and claim to be 'thinking of the country', here's a thought - stop bickering about pointless issues, and actually discuss the matter at hand, or are you in fact a professional politician, it sure seems like you learned your debate 'skills' from one.
You're not even from America, yet you claim to know so much about our politics. Sorry, but you're wrong. Keep up with the times, please. The Democrat party is not right of cenTER (if you're so into America, then maybe you should adhere to the way we spell). The majority votes for leftist issues that ARE Marxist and sometimes even communistic. More and more Democrat politicians aren't denying their ties to Marxism or to the Communist Part while many others still do. You claiming that I don't know how to debate or spell is laughable because you're only doing that typical leftist thing I so often point out since you evidently know of no other way to have a discussion without the need to try to make me look as stupid as you actually are. So now, all of a sudden you declare the 'issues' to be pointless after you make pointless criticisms of me, so as to make my responses look pointless. Uh huh...typical leftist ineptness and pettiness...again. YOU stick to the matter at hand (which wasn't spelling, grammar or lack of political smartness) and stop worrying that I might make you look unintelligent and we might get somewhere with the discussions.
Last I checked our party which is more willing to be moderate did not branch off and create a double dose of liberal party. Your idea that.... Darn double comment...
Unfortunately, the world is filled with misguided people like Chesser who willingly give material support to groups of nuts who are willing to seek our destruction. Good work on the part of the local FBI/JTTF catching this nut.