deputies at about 2:30 p.m. Friday escorted two men into the Cerritos residence believed to be the hiding place of a man responsible for the creation of the anti-Islam film that continues to fuel unrest and violence in the Middle East.
The two men are attorneys who have been "retained by the individual," according to Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesman Steve Whitmore. The individual in question is believed to be Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a man behind the making of the 14-minute low budget YouTube trailer that denigrates Islam and mocks the Prophet Muhammad.
After a sheriff's patrol car rolled up to the home, two men in a black Hyundai parked next to the deputies, exited their vehicle, according to news crews at the scene.
Deputies escorted the men to the front door, while also providing protection from several news cameras. The home has been on from around the world since late Wednesday.
"We facilitated them going in," Whitmore said, adding that he does not know who or what was discussed inside the residence.
One of the attorneys, Steve Seiden, left the residence about an hour later and provided a brief statement to the media, asking them to leave because Nakoula's children had become prisoners in their own home.
Two photographers who gained access to a next door neighbor's roof on reported seeing children on a swing in the backyard of the home on Thursday afternoon.
Nakoula is believed to be inside the residence along with his wife, two sons and daughter. Two of those children are local college students.
Who is Steve Seiden?
A State Bar of California search lists "Steven Allan Seiden" as having a law office in the city of Hawthorne. In a phone call with his office Friday afternoon, Patch was told their office did consult with Mr. Nakoula today but said no further comment on the matter would be made.
Seiden is listed as a graduate of the University of New Mexico with a law degree from San Fernando Valley College of Law in Woodland Hills.
According to State Bar records, this attorney was suspended from practicing law on Sept. 4, 1992. His suspension was lifted on Dec. 2, 1992.
Previously on Cerritos-Artesia Patch:
