A California man says he tried to alert officials about a mysterious anti-Islam film months before it became the center of an international crisis involving the deaths of American diplomats in the Middle East.

On June 29, a man named John Walsh, who blogs at hollywoodhighlands.org, appeared before the Los Angeles City Council and raised concerns about a movie titled “Innocence of Bin Laden,” that was set to be shown that week at a theater in Hollywood.

That movie now appears to be a version of a film blamed for setting off violent protests at U.S. Embassies in the Middle East. It’s unclear whether the film was linked to the deaths of American diplomats in Libya, but it has been cited as the driving force for demonstrations in Egypt, Sudan and Yemen.

“There is an alarming event occurring in Hollywood on Saturday,” Walsh said at the city council meeting. “A group has rented the Vine Street theater to show a video entitled ‘Innocence of Bin Laden.’ We have no idea what this group is.”

Walsh raised the prospect in his comments that the group promoting the movie was anti-Semitic, and even accused a city councilman of being an anti-Semite after he had been interrupted. At the same council meeting, Walsh also offered public comments on several other topics.

In early July, clips from the film, which includes absurd and offensive depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, were uploaded to YouTube with the titles “Muha.