Thursday, October 31, 2013

New Jersey: A Muslim who co-founded a radical Islamic website has pleaded guilty to using the Internet to make threats against Jewish groups

Yousef Mohamid al-Khattab, 45, of Atlantic City started the now-defunct Revolution Muslim website in 2007 with partner Jesse Curtis Morton. Al-Khattab, who converted from Judaism and was previously known as Joseph Cohen, is the third person connected with Revolution Muslim to be convicted in federal court in Alexandria. Morton and another man, Zachary Chesser, admitted using the site to deliver thinly veiled threats against the creators of the “South Park” television show for perceived insults to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Al-Khattab’s guilty plea does not mention the “South Park” threats. In court documents, al-Khattab admits encouraging readers to take unspecified action against Jewish leaders. In some postings, he provided names and addresses of Jewish leaders and synagogues and urged Muslims angered by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to “deal with them directly at their homes.” In another posting he praised Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan for “13 knockouts,” a reference to the 13 people Hasan shot and killed in the 2009 attacks. Al-Khattab faces up to five years in prison at a sentencing scheduled for February 7, 2014. His lawyer, Alan Yamamoto, said that it is not yet clear what length of term will be recommended under the federal sentencing guidelines.

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