Guy Who Threatened 'South Park' Creators Pleads Guilty to Terrorism Charges
20-year-old Zachary Adam Chesser, the guy who famously warned South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker about depicting the prophet Mohammed on their cartoon show, will plead guilty to (unrelated) terrorism charges in federal court today.
Chesser was on his way to Somalia in July, to join the terrorist group al-Shabab — the group responsible for pub-bombings in Uganda over the summer that killed 76 people — when FBI agents arrested him on charges of "providing material support to terrorists and distributing information about the construction of explosives." This didn't get him nearly as much attention as when he wrote online that the South Park creators could be killed for depicting Mohammed in a bear suit, prompting Comedy Central to censor the episode. But it finally got him arrested, and today he'll plead guilty to those July charges in an Alexandria, Virginia court.
How did Chesser even get into extremist Islam, by the way? You know, some girlfriend.
Childhood friends who knew Chesser at Oakton High School recalled him as "freakishly intelligent" and a fan of Japanese anime who played basketball and football as a freshman and rowed crew. He became interested in Islam after dating a fellow student his senior year.