Posted on July 15, 2010

‘Everybody Draw Muhammad Day’ Advocate Rattled by Death Threats

Joshua Rhett Miller, Fox News, July 12, 2010

The creator of a now-defunct “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day” page on Facebook fears she may be targeted for death now that the cartoonist who launched the online campaign has been placed on an execution list by a radical Yemeni-American cleric.

The 27-year-old Facebook page creator–a Canadian woman who asked not to be identified due to fears of reprisal–told FoxNews.com that she was visited at her home last week by Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials who advised her to remove her page and not to talk to reporters.

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The woman created her version of “Everybody Draw Muhammad” in late April, days after a Seattle cartoonist launched the online campaign to protest Comedy Central’s censoring of an episode of “South Park,” in which the Prophet Muhammad was depicted wearing a bear costume. The Canadian woman said she will no longer act as the administrator of such a page.

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As part of “Inspire,” a 67-page English-language Al Qaeda magazine, Yemeni-American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki–who has been linked to the botched Times Square bombing and cited as inspiration for the Fort Hood massacre and the plot of two New Jersey men to kill U.S. soldiers–targeted the Seattle cartoonist for “assassination,” along with others who have participated in her campaign.

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The Canadian woman told FoxNews.com that she created her page as a way for Facebook users to discuss Islam “openly and honestly”–and that she has lost most of her anger following her initial outrage.

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David Gomez, the FBI’s assistant special agent in charge of counterterrorism in Seattle, said authorities consider the threat “very seriously” and confirmed that they contacted the Seattle cartoonist two weeks ago.

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