"South Park" Critic in Court on Terror Charge

Updated at 1:41 p.m. ET

A Virginia man best known for posting an online attack against the creators of the animated series "South Park" will spend at least one more day in jail on unrelated charges that he twice tried to join a Somali terror group linked to al Qaeda.

Zachary Chesser, 20, of Oakton, Va., made an initial appearance Thursday in U.S. District Court on charges of providing material support to the al-Shabab terror group, which earlier this month claimed responsibility for a July 11 bombing in Uganda that killed more than 75 people watching the World Cup.

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Chesser did not have an attorney and requested a court-appointed lawyer. Dressed casually and shorn of the long beard that was a feature in Internet videos in which he appears, he otherwise did not speak in a hearing that lasted barely two minutes. He is being held pending a detention hearing scheduled for Friday. Prosecutor Gordon Kromberg said Chesser faces a potential maximum of 15 years in prison.

FBI agents say Chesser twice tried to travel to Somalia to join al-Shabab as a fighter. An FBI affidavit says he was stopped once by his mother-in-law. The second time occurred on July 10, when he took his infant son with him and tried to board a flight from New York to Uganda. An FBI affidavit states that Chesser took his son to the airport so he would appear less suspicious. He was denied entry to the flight and told he was on the no-fly list.

He is also accused of using the Internet to spread propaganda on behalf of al-Shabab members.

Chesser gained notoriety earlier this year for warning online that the creators of the animated series "South Park" risked death by mocking the Prophet Muhammad.

A court affidavit also states that Chesser corresponded with the radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki last year, and received two responses. Al-Awlaki is a U.S. citizen living in Yemen who was recently designated a terrorist by the U.S. government. Al-Awlaki is believed to have corresponded with several alleged terrorists, including Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people in November at Fort Hood, Tex.

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Federal public defender Michael Nachmanoff was appointed to represent Chesser on Thursday, along with Brian Mizer, a former Navy officer who represented Salim Hamdan, the one-time driver for Osama bin Laden, in a military trial at Guantanamo Bay in 2008.

Nachmanoff declined comment Thursday.

[krotec54]

samXXkiley
The demands are seen daily on the news of Islam demanding respect by suicide bombers, and your prophet had judged the others way of life (religion) not worthy to exist on this world.
The others see this as a threat to their way of life, but yet they open their cities to allow Muslims to live among them to learn to live among the others of the world.
The word "respect" has no place in Islamic vocabulary when it comes to respecting ?the others? way of life and yet they desire to live the way of life (religion) of the others hoping to develop the courage to shed the veil of Islam knowing that Islam is destroying itself from within.
And yes, the world still has resentment against Islam and the Koran for their determination to impose their way of life among the world that has not benefited the Muslim followers in any way.

[stinger1z]

Sucks to be him. I still posted a pic of Mohammed on my facebook page from the 2001 South Park episode. Hahahaha, you are in prison for a pointless cause!

[pollroller1]

Oh come on guys, all he wants to do is blow up some people so he can get into heaven.
He has all of those virgins waiting for him.

[cleric60]

I wonder if his parents are aware of his terrorist status in the USA?
I wonder if his wife was aware that he used their child to attempt to leave the USA? I wonder how he was raised by his parents and if that was a factor that affect his thinking/mind to become a terrorist for Islamtic extremist's movement. He is truly a sick puppy!!!!

[MadMorrison]

Stupid is as stupid does

[Brokennews]

You were going to kill Kenny!!

You Bast*rd!!

[run2jazz2]

Is anyone sure this is not Fox News getting part of this video and this guy is selling kosher hot dogs at the National's game? We got to make sure now?

We don't want a racial uproar of a White guy being accused as a Terrorist! The thought of this poor innocent White man wanting to joing a terrorist group to kill Americans? I am just dumbfounded!

[joadun]

And then there are those stupid people who think there is absolutely nothing wrong with building a mosque just blocks from the World Trade Center and actually believe it will promote "tolerance." PLEASE! These stupid people are leading us down the path of no return.

[cleric60]

If there are a lot of Muslims living in that area/community that is one thing to build a worship center; However, if this Mosque is being built by Muslims from the outside of that community that is wrong. They are forcing their presence upon that community, from the outside. I still like to know where is the money coming from? The local Muslim community or from a foreign Muslim community.
A faith community builds a gathering place where the members of that community live in-let's say walking distance.

[livingtxlife]

Looks like "terror threat" needed quotes instead of South Park.

I'd love to hear more about how his cushy Fairfax, VA life was so horrible that he needed to become a terror threat to his country.

Glad to see the no-fly list actually worked. Also, his mother-in-law was mighty smart to grab her daughter's passport. She must be relieved this dope is locked away from her daughter and grandson.

[displeased]

This guy appears to be another brilliant one. I agree with epoptika below; they should have let him fly there and then imposed the no-fly restriction to keep him out. No that he's stuck here, he'll attempt to recruit while in prison.

[armyoftwelve]

Pictures of the "Prophet" Mohammed????? Who said mohammed is a prophet-not to me he isn't.

John Allen Muhammad converted to islam and killed a dozen people.
John Walker Lindh converted to islam and fought for the taliban
Richard Reed converted to islam and trying blowing up a plane
Now this idiot wants to help al-shabab....

Are we beginning to see a pattern here????????

[bobnjersey]

[John Allen Muhammad converted to islam and killed a dozen people.
John Walker Lindh converted to islam and fought for the taliban
Richard Reed converted to islam and trying blowing up a plane
Now this idiot wants to help al-shabab....

Are we beginning to see a pattern here???????? ]

yea ... they're all idiots who allowed their ignorance to guide them. it's an age old pattern ... likely rooted in some missing sense of identity ... and for these 'four' you mentioned ... it's islam that was somehow filling that void.

you can likely find similar examples ... of both good and bad ... motiviated by all types of things.

i bet i can beat you simply by using 'money' as the motivator.

ready ... set ... go.