A man who threatened the lives of South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker has received a 12 year prison sentence handed down by a New York court.
33-year-old Jesse Curtis Morton of Brooklyn, New York, received the sentence after posting online threats against Stone and Parker as well as a host of others who he deemed "enemies of Islam". Morton, who converted to the Muslim religion, founded the now-defunct Revolution Muslim web site, which attacked individuals and organizations perceived as an affront to Islamic beliefs.
Morton offered an apology at his sentencing, stating he "contributed to a clash of civilizations" by espousing a violent ideology. "I justified atrocities by Muslims simply because they were carried out by the weak against the powerful."
The incident stemmed from an episode of South Park where the Prophet Muhammad was depicted in a bear costume. Islamic laws strictly forbids any characterization or drawings of the Prophet from being published, which is a punishable offense considered to be blasphemous.
The always irreverent cartoon has courted controversy countless times since its debut on the Comedy Central cable network in 1997, featuring off-color and often offensive humor as well as stinging parodies of contemporary themes.
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