20x03 - Great Satan

Episode transcripts for the TV show "Law & Order". Aired: September 1990 to May 2010.*
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20x03 - Great Satan

Post by bunniefuu »

NARRATOR: In the
criminal justice system

the people are represented by two
separate yet equally important groups,

the police who investigate crime

and the district attorneys
who prosecute the offenders.

These are their stories.

Hey! How many times I got to
tell you? Stay out of my garbage.

What do you care, man?
Were you going to read it?

Just get out of here or
I'll call the cops, all right?

Go ahead. Call them.

One, two, three, lift.

Come on, come on.

Is he going to make it?

No. Not if we
stand here chatting.

He's got a b*llet in his chest,
could be bleeding out. Let's go.

The victim's ID says
James Caruso, 23-years-old.

Uh, did anybody see anything?

I mean, it's the
middle of the day.

That guy. He called it in.

Sir? Hey, buddy!

You saw what happened?

The kid was in front of my
store five minutes before.

He's a curb shopper. He goes
through garbage looking for treasures.

He was poking through this
one when the guy came up.

The guy?

Tall, gray hair, suit
pants, uh, white shirt.

The kid was reaching
for something in the can,

and the guy ran up to
him and pulled a g*n.

This can here? Mmm-hmm.

The guy started yelling. The
kid freaked and pushed him,

and the guy just sh*t him.

Then he just stood there, like he
was surprised the g*n even went off.

Then he saw me looking
and he just took off.

All right, did you hear
what he was yelling about?

No, I was too far away.

Maybe this.

$100 bills. Nice and crisp.

A credit card
receipt, today's date.

Three cheeseburgers.

And extra lettuce.

Your name's on the
receipt, Randy. It's Randall.

Randy is an adjective, which
only sometimes describes me.

Do you own a g*n, Randall?

No, I don't own a g*n.
And I didn't go across town

to throw my cheeseburger
bag into a garbage can with...

How much did you say? 10,000.

New bills.

We're thinking drug
deal, or a gambling debt.

Who'd I owe, the Sanitation Department?
I walked away from my car for 10 minutes.

I left here, I walked to the
burger place, there, I came back

to pick up my CEO and
drive him to his tennis club.

What did you do with the bag?

I ate the burgers on the
way back and I tossed it.

Tossed it where? In the park.

So I littered. Anybody
could've picked it up.

Yeah.

Maybe somebody
coming out of there.

Fresh $100 bills.

Let's see who made a withdrawal.

DARLENE: Just tell them what
happened. DON: They said not to.

No, we don't have
a choice. Darlene.

My husband sh*t somebody.

Okay, sir. Turn around.

Turn around. Where's
the g*n? Hmm?

Top drawer.

Please! My husband's not a
criminal! He didn't mean to do it.

Ma'am, please, stand over there.

LUPO: Turn around and tell
me what you did mean to do.

Well, our daughter was kidnapped. I
just wanted him to tell me where she is.

Okay. I think you need
to start at the beginning.

We got a call from
her cell phone.

I could hear her crying
in the background.

A man said to put
$10,000 in a fast food bag

and put it in a garbage
can or he'd k*ll her.

We called her school,

and they said that she'd
gone off-campus for lunch

and didn't come back. They...

They can't find her.

So you went to the bank, you got the
money, and you found a fast-food bag.

And I put it in the garbage can,

but I waited to see
who picked it up.

Waited with a g*n.

I wanted to make him tell
me where my daughter is.

Is, is he still alive?
Did he say anything?

Mr. Sorenson, that might
have been just some kid

scavenging through the garbage.

No.

Please, you've got to help us.

Actually you've got to
come with us. Excuse me.

No! What if they call back?

We've been trying to
call them, to explain.

Dad? What's going on?

DARLENE: Oh my God! Jill!

DON: Jill! Are you all right?

Did they hurt you?

Who? I was with Amanda.

Amanda?

We cut class.

Where's your cell phone?

I don't know. I lost it.

So my dad sh*t someone because
he thought I'd been kidnapped?

Uh, yeah. Which, for the
record, you hadn't been. Correct?

No. I was in Times
Square with a friend.

We just went to see a movie.

This is my fault.

No, it's not.

They hang out at the theaters,

spot a well-dressed
kid, steal her cell phone,

and then call her parents and
tell them she's been kidnapped

with an accomplice screaming
for daddy in the background.

Virtual kidnapping.

Simple, low-risk, and there's no
actual hostage to lock up and feed.

Very simple, except for James
Caruso, the kid who got sh*t.

Yeah, he's the
neighborhood dumpster diver.

Wrong can, wrong time.

The guy who was supposed to pick up
the money was probably a few feet away,

and he took off when
the sh**ting started.

So, what are you going to do
about the sh**t, Mr. Sorenson?

Well, Caruso's going to live, and
Sorenson's paying the hospital bill, so

if his story checks out,
probably as*ault one.

Yeah.

Thanks. See ya.

Okay.

Yeah?

Oh, thank you.

It's the girl's cell
phone records.

Uh, she texted her boyfriend at
11:14, then the phone was stolen.

Here's the call to her
parents at 11:58. Hmm.

Then one call,
international, 35 minutes.

Country code 967.

Yeah, that's Yemen.

That's interesting.

Um, I'm going to
be out for a while.

Uh, if this breaks,
you let me know.

Yeah. Okay.

You didn't have to
come. It's just an IV.

Chemotherapy.

Right.

I'm getting better already.

Mom, I wanted to be here.

So, what are you going to do, just
sit there and stare at me for an hour?

Yes. Then take you home.

So where were you when I
needed my kitchen painted?

I was scared my first time, too.

Well, then I... I hope I can
be just as brave as you are.

(CELL PHONE RINGING)

Hey. You're off-duty.

(CELL PHONE SHUTS OFF)

I'm glad you're here, Son.

SHAPIRO: Yemen.

Yeah. Some of the Al-Qaeda guys
tired of dodging Predator drones

in Pakistan have
found a new home there.

I heard. So I was
thinking, maybe...

The number the guys who
stole the cell phone called

is a land line in Sa'dah.

That's not a number
we're monitoring.

It's not?

You think virtual kidnappings
could be fundraising for t*rrorists?

They smuggle dr*gs,
counterfeit money, sell fake DVDs.

Can you find out if the number in
Yemen made any calls to the US?

Uh, you want me to find
out officially, or unofficially?

Officially.

The virtual kidnapper
called a phone in Yemen.

That phone makes regular
calls to one person in New York.

Sameer Ahmed, 23, born in Syria,

moved to Brooklyn with his
parents when he was four,

became a US citizen
six months ago.

And he celebrates by fake
kidnapping teenage girls?

Land of opportunity.

He has a brother in Yemen,
supposedly studying to be an engineer.

You know this isn't even
enough to arrest the guy

in Brooklyn for the
virtual kidnapping.

We can't prove he made the call.

What about a wiretap? Maybe
we catch him doing it again.

Yeah, and if you happen to hear
him talking some kind of terror plot...

That'd be okay, too.

SAMEER: All right, all
right, don't worry about it.

I'm telling you, man,
bigger ain't better.

This ain't 1995.

You want to go
small, low-profile.

MAN: Okay, okay. I
just want the best ones.

Dude, come on, I'll
get you the best ones.

SAMEER: They're just
not going to be big, okay?

I'll call you later.

(TELEPHONE DISCONNECTS) (SIGHS)

Six hours on stereo equipment?

Don't we have interns?

BERNARD: Oh, what is that?

Lo mein? Hey, Lupo,

we have any more
granola bars left?

Last one.

(TELEPHONE RINGING)

SAMEER: Hello? MAN: Sameer.

I got tired of waiting on you,
so I found one on my own.

She just went into the theater.
I already called her parents.

Green garbage can, northwest
corner 26th and Second.

2:00. Don't screw
it up this time.

SAMEER: Okay.

2:00. That's less than an hour.

Let's go screw it up.

Sameer! What's in the bag?

(POLICE SIRENS WAILING)

Police! Freeze!

Hey, what's going on?
What have you got here?

They're hamburgers.
Oh, yeah, hamburgers?

What's this then, your
Happy Meal prize?

That's mine. The bag's a disguise,
you know? So I don't get mugged.

Turn around and put
your hands on the car.

What do you got here?
The whole cop army?

BERNARD: Possible t*rror1st
connection, we don't take chances.

t*rror1st? No, no,
no, you got it wrong.

You have the right to remain
silent. Anything you say...

I'm not a t*rror1st.

Can and will be used
against you. I'm just trying

to raise some cash to open
a store. You have the right

to an attorney. For
stereo equipment.

Yeah? And what about
your brother in Yemen?

I'm not a t*rror1st!

What kind of
store is he running?

You can't arrest me.

We already did.

Look, hold up. My
partner, he and his friends,

they want to do
something to hurt America.

Hey. Do what?

Let me go. I can help you.

I love America. I'm a citizen.

Help us how, Sameer?

Hey, call me Sam, all right? I
can find out what they're doing.

They're waiting for me.

If I don't get back in half an hour,
they'll know something's wrong.

I can help you.

Everything went
smooth this time.

You took your cut?

I did.

Good. Enjoy it.

Wait.

I want in.

In on what?

You, Ali, Joe, I've
heard you talking.

We weren't talking
to you, Stereo Man.

Hey, the stuff this
country's been doing...

Somebody got to pay.

I know electronics. That
could come in handy, all right?

You really want to do something?

Yeah. Don't you?

COLE ON RECORDING: Come
to my place tomorrow. We'll talk.

That's crappy sound.
You hear that feedback?

I ought to sell you guys
some decent equipment.

We'll try to do better next time. So
what have these guys been talking about?

Justice, jihad,
blowing things up.

Where?

Here in New York.

All right, who's who?

That's Charles Cole.
He converted in prison.

Hardcore guy. He was up for
armed robbery, I think, and r*pe.

These two?

Ali Hossam and Joe Darwish.

They're Egyptian, but
Joe was born in Brooklyn.

They used to go to the
same mosque as me.

And they were talking
jihad, all the while you were

shaking rich girls' daddies
down to open up a stereo store?

And never once did you mention
this to the police before you got busted?

They're scary guys, man.

They say Cole k*lled somebody.

But I'm sorry, I
should have told you.

I love this country.

CUTTER: What he
loves is not going to jail.

Yeah, that, too.

Offer probation on extortion
for the virtual kidnapping

in exchange for his
cooperation, which you'll monitor.

I'll draft the agreement.

This is our area. FBI or
at least a joint task force.

It's our case.

Do your people have any
experience in this kind of thing?

Detective Lupo spent four
years overseas with NYPD Intel.

Doing what?

You're not cleared.

VAN BUREN: We can detach
Detectives Lupo and Bernard to JTTF.

That was easy.

There are guidelines.

We've developed
rapport with Mr. Ahmed.

It stays with us. We'll
keep you in the loop.

US Attorney may feel different.

He has my number.

Lieutenant?

Damn Feds.

They send their
anti-terror dollars to

Schenectady, then want
to run cases in New York.

How are you doing?

Fine.

BERNARD: Are you currently
involved in any criminal activity,

outside of the
virtual kidnapping?

No.

Are you currently a defendant
in an ongoing criminal trial?

No. Come on already,
where do I sign?

This is not a
get-out-of-jail free card.

You do not break the law unless
you are instructed to do so by us.

Mmm-hmm. If you do
get arrested, you call us.

If you can't reach us, you
call Lieutenant Van Buren.

If my erection lasts
more than four hours,

call my doctor.

You think this is funny, Sameer?

No. It's Sam.

I forget. You're Yankee
Doodle Dandy, right?

You're born here, you
don't appreciate this country.

My father, in Syria,

he was locked up and
tortured for three years.

No explanation, no charges,
no nice contract, nothing.

He got out and ran for his
life. This country took him in.

And I'm pretty sure he'd be proud to
know what you've been up to lately.

No, he wouldn't.

Starting now, he will.

He's combing his hair.

You're going to love it.

(COMPUTER BEEPING)

Collateral damage, my ass,
man. It's genocide against Muslims.

That's Cole.

In Afghanistan, Pakistan,
who those bombs been hitting?

It's a crusade. Bush said it.

He used the word.

One Jew gets
k*lled in Palestine,

it's front page on
The New York Times.

That's Hossam.

Meanwhile, Abu Ghraib,

we're just supposed
to forget that.

That's me. Thank you.

You guys been talking about...

What about Darwish, the
other guy, was he there?

Yeah, he's just kind of
quiet. He doesn't talk much.

HOSSAM: That's not what the
imam on Atlantic Avenue says.

SAMEER: That guy? He's so busy
going to interfaith breakfasts with rabbis.

They bought him off.

What do you want to do?

COLE: There's a synagogue
in Washington Heights.

HOSSAM: I know that place.

Boom.

Oh, that's Darwish.

COLE: Blow 'em to hell.

It'd just take a little C-4
or something like that.

SAMEER: I think I know
someone who can get us some.

Who do you know?

You.

You're sure we
can trust this guy?

Don't worry
about it. You'll see.

(GREETING IN ARABIC)

How do I know
this guy isn't a cop?

I told you, I know him
from the mosque. Plus...

We've been running some stuff.

Hmm. Fake kidnappings.

So now he suddenly wants
to do something righteous?

If Allah is willing.

I sympathize.

But I'm going to need 8,000.

What have you got?

C-4.

Enough to bring down a building.

Where did you get this?

I'm in the National Guard.

Two deployments to Iraq.

So I've seen what my
country is capable of.

So when I got
home, I borrowed this.

Are we good?

How do I know this
isn't just Silly Putty, man?

Because Silly Putty

doesn't do this.

(LAUGHING)

It doesn't explode from
a flame. It just burns.

We used to cook over
this stuff in the field.

We're not going on no
camping trip, my brother.

Well, then you're going
to need these. Detonators.

Test one if you like.

COLE: Oh, we will.

Just don't hold it in your hand.
That's if you want to keep your hand.

LUPO: That's the
storage locker they rented.

CUTTER: With our money.

You did get the $8,000 they
paid me for the Silly Putty, right?

Here they come.

MAN: Are you sure this is safe?

SAMEER: Allah will protect us.

We gave you guys five
detonators. I only see four.

Our guy and Cole, they
went to the woods to test it.

You're missing a
t*rror1st, too, aren't you?

No, that'd be Darwish.
He tends to be a little late.

Not on top. Put
them in the middle.

Like this?

Run the wires all together.

COLE: Did you get
the power source?

SAMEER: Right here.

The remote control sets it off.

Did you get a car yet?

COLE: It'll be here by 9:00.

What's the plan after that?

They load the b*mb in the
trunk, drive to the synagogue.

Another car pulls up, they
all get in, drive a block away,

push the remote control,
blow up the building.

Or not.

(POLICE SIRENS WAILING)

Back up! Back up!

MAN: Go back! Go back!

Put your hands on
your heads! Now!

BERNARD: Put your hands on
your heads where I can see them!

LUPO: Let me see those hands!

Blow it.

We're too close.

We'll be martyrs.

DARWISH: I... I don't
want to be a martyr.

LUPO: Open the door! With your
left hand, slowly open the door.

(SPEAKS ARABIC)

BERNARD: Hands on your head!

Open the car door slowly!

BERNARD: Get out! Get it.

Kneel! On your knees, now!

LUPO: Lie down, face first.

You! Yeah.

I sold you a dud, bro.

(expl*si*n)

What the hell was that?

Four blocks away from
the g*ng we rounded up.

Did we maybe miss
a connection there?

The cops were all over the people we
were watching. There was never a hint.

Either they fooled us,

or we were wasting our time
on a nonexistent b*mb plot

while actual bombers were
blowing up an actual building.

It's our dumb luck
nobody was injured.

The plot we stopped
wasn't nonexistent.

These people fully intended
to blow up a synagogue.

And I intend to
walk on the moon.

All I need is a nice policeman
to give me a rocket ship.

Do we know anything about
the b*mb that did blow up?

We didn't have an
informant in that group.

Maybe they had an
informant in our group.

This man, Ahmed, are we sure
he didn't play us all for fools?

I didn't know. I swear.

Same night, same
neighborhood, same kind of target.

There's more than three
angry Muslims around.

BERNARD: You never
mentioned anyone else.

I'm not the king of jihad.
I'm a stereo salesman

who brought you the guys I knew.

Maybe they spoke
to someone else?

Maybe planned a little sideshow
to go with the main event.

Hossam? Darwish?

I don't know. What about Cole?

He seemed pretty
damned enthusiastic.

He converted in prison.

Some of those
guys are the worst.

CUTTER: This is how it works. We
track down your friends from prison.

If any of them were
involved, then so are you.

Unless you want to
save us the trouble.

Oh, that's what I want
to do. Save you trouble.

We have you on video
assembling a t*rror1st b*mb.

That's life without parole.

Except it wasn't
actually a b*mb.

He thought it was.

What if Mr. Cole

could give you the name of the
ringleader of the other bombing?

If it pans out, attempted arson.

Jail time?

Twelve years.

Twelve years?

But nothing happened.

(SCOFFS)

I know a man from Attica.

He told me he was planning
something big to wake this country up.

He told me I could
help, do some odd jobs,

like I was his errand boy.

CUTTER: Did he tell you
what he was planning?

A b*mb.

I told him if he really
wanted to hear some noise,

he'd listen in
Washington Heights,

(SPEAKS ARABIC)

You told him where you were
going to set off your b*mb?

I told him where and when

so that when it happened,
he'd know it came from me.

This person obviously
wanted to go at the same time,

so his own expl*si*n
would have a bigger impact.

His name is Arthur
Jackson. The police

picked him up last
night with two associates.

They found C-4 residue and maps marking
the location of the synagogue they bombed.

Also, plans to sh**t down
m*llitary planes with Stinger missiles.

Where do things stand
with your informant's bunch?

The only defendants left
are a couple of followers,

Ali Hossam and Joe Darwish.

And they didn't do or say
very much on the tapes.

Nail them down.

I want everybody to go away.

BERNARD: We thought that you should
see Mr. Darwish's apartment for yourself.

God. Yeah.

Yeah. There's some expired
anti-depressive medication in the bathroom

and a raw duck

on top of the refrigerator.

What's this?

Yeah, we thought maybe
an expl*sive chemical, too.

It's urine.

The guy's a whack job.

There's something else.

We found some speed,
methamphetamine, in the bedroom,

in this envelope

with a handwritten note.

"Hope this helps.
Be strong. Sameer."

The guy was missing
meetings, planning sessions.

He could barely drag
himself out of his apartment.

So you gave him an illegal
drug to keep his energy up?

He just needed a little
help to get out of bed.

We said no illegal activity.

I didn't sell him the meth,

I just gave it to him.

Come on, I did what you
wanted. What we wanted?

I said jihad and
you started to drool.

You drugged someone
into joining a conspiracy.

He had a headache,
I gave him an aspirin.

You wanted him and people
like him, and I delivered.

Mr. Darwish was diagnosed
with unipolar depression last year.

He could go for a
mental-incapacity defense.

Not to mention pointing out that
he was drugged by our informant.

And Mr. Hossam is a dishwasher
who was just along for the ride.

Defense may claim
they were entrapped.

Just because we gave them the
b*mb, the detonators, the power supply,

the remote control,
and motivational dr*gs?

We might want to drop
the charges against Hossam

and Darwish.

No.

They went to that synagogue with
what they thought was a b*mb, correct?

Yes.

A synagogue that hosts a non-denominational
shelter for abused women,

some of whom were sleeping
there when the b*mb car arrived.

Yes.

I think this city will be safer
if those two are locked away.

It'll be a tough case to make, especially
with the other b*mb case on people's minds.

So combine them.

Charge a single conspiracy.

They're connected, aren't they?

Barely. All we know
is that Charles Cole

from the first group had one conversation
with the leader of the other group.


That's all you need.

This is an outrageous abuse
of prosecutorial discretion.

The case against my clients is weak
and embarrassing, so the District Attorney

is attempting to bolster it by
combining it with a stronger case

with which it has
no actual connection.

It's no coincidence that both bombs
were set to explode on the same night.

But Mr. Hossam and Mr. Darwish

had no knowledge of
the other bombing plot.

Even the District Attorney
doesn't claim that they did.

They didn't need to. They were
already conspiring with Mr. Cole.

And Mr. Cole in turn conspired
with the other bombers?

Yes. We can bring
him in to testify.

It's a daisy chain. We're going to end
up connecting my clients to Kevin Bacon.

I'll hear the witness.

Notify the other defendants.
They'll need to be present as well.

Mr. Cole, do you recognize
the men at that table?

Yeah, I know Jackson.
Arthur Jackson.

Did you and Mr. Jackson
ever have a conversation about

setting off bombs
in New York City?

Yes, we did.

I told him about my plans
to blow up a Jewish temple,

with those two.

Let the record reflect that he is pointing
to defendants Hossam and Darwish.

And did you tell Mr. Jackson
when you and your associates

planned to set off your b*mb?

I gave him the
date, and the place,

in case he wanted to
coordinate, which he did.

Mr. Cole, did you ever mention
this alleged conversation

to Mr. Hossam or Mr. Darwish?

No.

So their only connection
to Mr. Jackson

was through you,

and even you were barely
connected to anything Mr. Jackson did.

Well, I told him everything
that we were doing,

so that he could set his b*mb off at
the same time we were setting ours off.

But that had nothing
to do with you, did it?

I wouldn't say that.

Why not? Mr. Jackson
had a real b*mb,

you had a fake one. He
knew what he was doing,

you clearly had no idea.

He was operating independently,

you were operating under
the control of a police informant.

He didn't even have everything.

He didn't need you.

He didn't even tell
you what he was doing.

There was no connection
between you or these defendants

and what his group accomplished.

I gave him a detonator.

The man forgot to
get himself a detonator.

I mean, I was more
prepared than he was.

And where did you get
this detonator, Mr. Cole?

From the police, turns out.

I was supposed to test it.
But I never got around to that.

The b*mb that destroyed
Congregation Beth Sinai

was triggered by a detonator

supplied not by any
of these defendants,

but by the New York City Police?

I mean, yeah, I guess.

I'm telling you, Cole told me he tested
that detonator in the Meadowlands.

Yes, and you told
us you saw him do it.

I didn't think it
matters. I believed him.

You were supposed
to be on top of things.

I'm sorry.

I was embarrassed.

Embarrassed?

That I lost track of things.

I was trying to do
a good job for you.

(BERNARD BANGS TABLE) You
were trying to save your own neck.

No.

I hate those
people. I hate them.

How do we know you
weren't in on the other plot?

Keeping us busy with three bozos
while you were arranging the real thing?

Don't you know me?

You know me.

I don't know if we do, Sameer.

Sam.

CUTTER: He was embarrassed?
How do you two feel?

Do you realize how this looks?

The NYPD, the
District Attorney's office,

we supplied the
detonator for the real b*mb.

We didn't supply the expl*sives.

Those guys built
the b*mb themselves.

The defense is going to argue this
entire plot was manufactured by the police.

Hey, you know what
might save my case?

Indicting him and the two
of you as co-conspirators.

You supplied more material
support for the actual bombing

than the two losers
I just did indict.

He's kidding, right?

Get ready to testify.

SAMEER: What do you want to do?

COLE: There's a synagogue
in Washington Heights.

HOSSAM: I know that place.

DARWISH: Boom.

COLE: Yeah, blow 'em to hell.

It'd just take a little C-4,
or something like that.

Detective, was this the only
occasion when you heard

Mr. Hossam and
Mr. Darwish express

a desire to set off a
b*mb in Manhattan?

No. For them, it was a pretty
regular topic of conversation.

Thank you.

Detective, in that recording it
was Mr. Cole who pointed out

the existence of the synagogue
and said, "Blow it to hell," wasn't it?

Yes, yes, and it was your client,
Mr. Darwish, that said, "Boom."

Well, that was very
colorful of him, wasn't it?

And Mr. Cole is a cooperating
witness for the police, isn't he?

He wasn't at the
time of the recording.

But Mr. Ahmed was?

Yes.

Well, let's listen
to a little more.

SAMEER: You guys been talking
about doing something, right?

COLE: It's a duty.

HOSSAM: That's not what the
imam on Atlantic Avenue says.

SAMEER: That guy? He's so busy
going to interfaith breakfasts with rabbis.

They bought him off.

What do you want to do?

So, who said that his
spiritual leader advised him that

blowing things up was
not a religious duty?

Mr. Hossam.

And who told him that that spiritual
leader had been bought off by Jews?

Mr. Ahmed.

Your informant? Yes.

Arguing Mr. Hossam
into joining the plan.

He didn't put a g*n to his head.
Mr. Hossam was willing and ready.

He just needed a little
encouragement, right?

I didn't have to talk
anybody into anything.

They were always
angry at America,

always talking
about ways to hurt it.

And how did you feel
about that? I didn't like it.

I'm an American citizen.

The day I pledged allegiance, it
was the greatest day of my life.

This is the best
country in the world.

But you didn't report
them immediately.

No.

I was involved with one
of them in a little scheme.

I needed money for a
business I was starting.

An illegal scheme.

Yes. But it had nothing
to do with terrorism,

nothing to do with
bombs. That was all them.

I may have helped them
get stuff they wanted,

but it was stuff they wanted.

Thank you.

Isn't there another
reason you didn't

report this so called
conspiracy, Mr. Ahmed?

Yeah. I was afraid
Cole would k*ll me.

Yeah, another reason?

Isn't it a fact that you didn't
report them because, well,

there was nothing to report?

They weren't doing anything.
They were just talking.

Talking like, "Let's blow up
the Empire State Building."

And how would they
ever have done that?

Wasn't it foolish talk,
even evil talk, but, really,

just talk, until
you got involved?

They could have met someone
else who got them a real b*mb.

It's lucky I was there first.

Lucky for you.

Tell me, what would
have happened to you

if you hadn't discovered
this so-called plot?

I would have gone to jail.

So you had strong motivation
to discover a t*rror1st cell,

even one that didn't exist.

I didn't make anything up.

You pushed things along.

You gave Mr. Darwish dr*gs without which
he would never have left his apartment.

Those dr*gs didn't
make him hate America.

He's always been talking that
way. I've known him a long time.

A long time?

Since 2007?

At least.

Did you see him around
Christmas that year?

I don't know. Maybe.

You don't remember seeing
him around Christmas 2007

and conducting some
business with him?

I... I don't know.

Are you sure he was
anti-American as long ago as that?

Maybe not.

Was he ever really
anti-American at all?

I, um...

Maybe he wasn't.

SPEIGHT: Was he or wasn't he?

No, he wasn't.

So, a few minutes ago,
you were exaggerating?

SAMEER: Yes, I was.

Speak up, Mr. Ahmed.

Yes, I was.

Maybe you were exaggerating
about some other things as well.

What role did Mr. Darwish and
Mr. Hossam play in this alleged conspiracy?

Not much. Anything at all?

Not really. I just kind of pulled them
through it. I didn't want to go to jail,

so I made it happen.

I told the police what
they wanted to hear.

What the hell just happened?

Christmas Day, 2007. She
mentioned that, and he flipped.

She blackmailed him.

In open court.

Blackmailed him with what?

My mother used to bring
me here when I was little.

She would buy me an
orange soda and we would sit

and look at the tall buildings.

Yeah.

The guys watching you, they
tell me you like to come here.

Are you here to
arrest me? Not yet.

Cutter, he wants to call
you for redirect tomorrow.

Tell him not to bother.

How long will I go to jail
for the fake kidnappings?

On December 21, 2007,

someone burglarized an
electronics warehouse in Flatbush.

They drove off with a
vanload of stereo equipment.

The thief was never
identified or caught.

Now, there's a
question on Form N-400,

the application for citizenship,

that asks, "Have you ever
committed a crime or offense

"for which you
were not arrested?"

Do you know what happens if
Immigration Service finds out you lied?

They take away your citizenship.

You get arrested, then
jailed, then deported.

Any crime committed
after you're a citizen,

you just go to jail.

But if you committed
one in 2007...

Darwish, he knows about this, and
he somehow managed to remember,

and he told his lawyer.

Do you know what happens
to me if I get deported to Syria?

Arrested, prison,

tortured, no future, no life.

I can't tell you
what to do, Sam,

but I do know a tight
spot when I see one.

Do you know what paradise is?

This is paradise.

When your mother brought
you here, when you were a kid,

the World Trade Center,

it was right over there.

I have redirect for Mr. Ahmed.

You're still under oath,
sir. Do you understand?

I do.

CUTTER: Yesterday, you
told us two different stories.

First, that defendants
Darwish and Hossam

were eager participants
in a bombing conspiracy,

and then, that they weren't.

Can you explain to us why
you changed your mind?

It's complicated.

Try.

I, uh...

I encouraged
them to take action.

I gave them the b*mb,

and I bought other supplies.

And I gave dr*gs to Darwish.

And I did all of that

because they wanted me to.

They wanted to k*ll Americans,

blow up buildings,

hurt America.

If I hadn't helped them,

they would have found
somebody else, some other way.

But because they found
me first, they were stopped.

If they had found somebody else,

you would be picking
body parts out of a gutter,

and they would be celebrating.

Then why did you say otherwise?

Because they know
about a crime I committed,

a burglary.

That will mean I lose
my American citizenship

and I'll get deported
to a terrible place.

I lied because I
want to stay here,

because this is
the place I love.

But when I became a
citizen, I took an oath.

I will support and defend
the United States of America

against all enemies,

foreign and domestic.

And that's what I'm doing now,

even if it means I will
stop being a citizen,

and be sent away,

and America will go on

without me.

Guilty, all of them.

Where's your informant?

Locked up, waiting
to be deported.

Do you want to help him?

I'd like to kick his ass
back to Syria myself.

I may have to go with him.
Have you seen the editorials?

"Synagogue snafu.
Who's to blame?"

Hey, about, uh, Mr. Ahmed,

there's a case, Gorbach v. Reno.

It, uh, limits the
authority of the INS

to revoke citizenship based
on certain technicalities.

It's not exactly current.
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