Younus Abdullah Mohammad’s lawyer, James Hundley, said that his case presented free speech issues. It did, but not the ones Hundley had in mind. Younus Abdullah Mohammad has no Constitutional right to threaten people with death. But his doing so is the other side of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s ongoing campaign to compel Western governments to criminalize “religious hatred,” by which they mean all accurate speech about how jihadists point to Islamic texts and teachings to justify violence. Either Western countries will render themselves mute (and hence defenseless) against the advancing jihad, or thugs like Younus Abdullah Mohammad will force them into silence by means of threats and murder.
“Second South Park threats suspect to plead guilty,” by Josh Gerstein in Politico, February 8:
A second man alleged to have made illegal threats against “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone has agreed to plead guilty, according to a defense lawyer.
Jesse Morton, also known as Younus Abdullah Mohammad, was detained in Morocco last May in connection with alleged threats posted on the Revolution Muslim website after “South Park” depicted Mohammad as a man in a bear suit. Prosecutors allege that Morton helped write a “clarification statement” that amounted to a further threat against the “South Park” creators by praying for their deaths and suggesting that they were likely to face the violent demise of other critics of Islam….
A lawyer for Morton, James Hundley, said his client plans to appear in federal court in Alexandria, Va. on Thursday to plead guilty to three felonies: conspiracy, communicating threats, and internet stalking. Each carries a sentence of up to five years in prison….
Hundley said the case against Morton presented free speech issues, but his client ultimately decided to take the plea the government offered rather than risk trial on more serious charges that could carry an even longer sentence.
“Certainly, this case had that question: at what point are you exercising free speech and at what point are you verging into prohibited speech of a threatening or inciting nature?” Hundley told POLITICO Wednesday. “That was something we obviously looked at very closely.”…