The surge in violence in the Muslim world might be connected to a 14-minute, anti-Islamic internet movie trailer. A woman who acted in the movie "Innocence of Muslims" is from Bakersfield. Cindy Garcia denies knowing the producer's intent.
"I want everyone in the world to know that I had nothing to do with this," said Garcia. "I was just an actress in a movie called "Desert Warriors" and it was supposed to be based on how things were 2,000 years ago."
Since all of this has come out, the movie clips have been pulled from YouTube. They are blamed for inciting recent violent and deadly attacks in Libya and Egypt that left a U.S. Ambassador dead along with three other Americans.
Cindy still has the casting sheet from the movie shot in Southern California in July. On it, the handwritten name "Sam Bassill" who, Cindy says, was the maker of the film, who changed the script and its meaning.
Cindy says she called "Sam" just days ago, mortified, after seeing the piece he produced portraying the prophet Muhammad as a womanizer, child molester, and ruthless killer on the internet.
"And, he said he did this because I'm tired of radical Muslims killing innocent people," said Garcia.
17 News asked, "Do you think "Sam" is capable of doing something more radical than this movie?" Garcia answered, "At this point, I don't know."
Cindy says "Sam" had another name, but she couldn't remember it.
Since then, federal authorities identified a 55-year-old California man by the name "Nakoula Basseley Nakoula" as the film's maker, and the FBI has been in contact.
"I felt deceived and used and, I don't know what to say," said Garcia holding back tears.
While Garcia has been trying to clear her name, she also works as a pastor at a Bakersfield church along with her father.
"She wouldn't do nothing that would be out of line in any way," said Rusty Johnston, Cindy's father. "She's been raised up better than that."
Now, she's just spreading her word to anyone who will listen, hoping the movie's maker doesn't get another chance to provoke violence again.
"He needs to be reckoned with," said Garcia. "He needs to be brought in. He needs to be investigated. Whether he did this on purpose or not, whether he knew he was going to create or not, he did it."
Garcia is still looking for her original script. She gave 17 News the number she had to the film's maker. 17 News tried calling it, but the number is no longer in service.
