All language subtitles for The.Feeling.Of.Being.Watched.2018.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

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[body microphone scratching]

[scratching continues]

Check. Check. Check. Check.

Switch on.

♪♪

Okay.[camerawoman]
You're good? Okay.

Um...

I must have been 16.

And I remember like,
waking up at 3:00 a.m.

and seeing a light outside.

I got up
and I looked outside,

and there were two men
on the telephone pole.

And they were doing something
on the wires,

and there were lights
shining on them.

And it was really strange
to see it at 3:00 a.m.

So I freaked out,
I went across the hall

to my mom's room.

And I woke her up,
and I-- and I was like,

"Mom, there are these two guys
outside on the wire

"and they're putting
something--

"they're installing
something at 3:00 a.m.,

and maybe we should
call the police."

I was really upset
and disturbed,

and my mom was like,
"Girl, you know, it's okay.

"Calm down,
it's not a big deal.

It's probably just the FBI,
go back to sleep."

♪♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

♪♪

[kids chattering]

So just, you know,
don't m-- don't--

don't pat it too much.

[Assia]
Can you tell me
about that time

the FBI came
to the door in 1999?

Was in...

like, few months after
your dad pass away.

And someone came running,

said that someone is here
asking for you.

I went to the door,
I found already

people inside my house
by the door.

[Assia]
Who?
Two-- two--

it was like three--
three, I think.

It was three men
with the black suit.

I recognize them,
it was FBI, of course.

You said
they sat here
for one hour.

What did you talk about
for one hour?

You know,
you don't know them.

How they-- the same question,

you don't answer,
they will say another one,

and they enter the oth--
the third one, the fou--

they make you-- they make you--
they make you confused.

You start just saying stuff,
oh, they will pick.

"How about this name?"

"This one, he was
my-- my husband's friend."

"How is your relation with them?
Ah, talk about him."

You know that,
what they call it,

they put like, a micropho--
or how would you call it?

Bug.Bug, exactly.

Each morning, I would
come and look under my table.

The next day, I would say,
"Maybe I didn't see it.

I have to check again."

I would just look,
said "no."

And the kids start,
"Mom, stop do--"

I said,
"No, I think

it's so small
that I couldn't see it."

How did you know
the times where maybe

you were just
being paranoid

and the times where
really something wa--

No, excuse me, because everyone
in the community was saying,

"They came, they came,
they came, they came."

So if we wanna go
and talk to some people...Mm-hmm.

...in the neighborhood
who have stories,

who should we go to?Many, honey.

Maybe these neighbors.

All of them,
they received
these people.

So...

Everyone has...
Yeah, yeah.

[chuckling]
All right, here we go.

My least favorite thing
about journalism was...

like, an MOS,
"man on street,"

where you just have to like,
find people and ask the--

like, I would dread
doing that,

and this feels
a lot like that.

[Assia]
Bridgeview is a really
tight-knit neighborhood.

Everybody knows
everybody else.

All of our dads are friends
from the mosque,

and all the moms
are always looking out

for each others' kids.

...so we decided
we need to d--

[man]
No, she's not.

Oh, okay. Well, we're
doing a documentary

about the neighborhood
and all the surveillance

that's happened here,
asking people about

things that they saw
and things that they witnessed

over the years,
and so...

[Assia]
A lot of people
in my neighborhood

have stories about
being watched.

But most of them are afraid
to talk out loud about it,

especially when
there's a camera around.

We got some bread.
[chuckling]

But no interview.

Well, there are two cars
in the driveway.

Kinda feel like it's
another way of saying "no."

[conversing in Arabic]

[woman]
Come this way.

If you can get an angle.

A little bit more.
Little bit more.

Yeah, right there.

And that damn car is always
just parked right there.

[woman]
It's like how you see
in the movies.

Like those pizza vans
that are just sitting,

staked out in front
of your house.

When you pass the van by,
like, they'd pull up...

[Assia]
Newspaper....a book or a magazine,

or act like
they're not in the car.

Like, we can see you.

They put a camera
at the corner.

So they watch all the area.

I saw a car stop right next
to garbage container,

and they're going through it.

Now I said to her,
"Maybe they are homeless."

But darn,
homeless doesn't

drive good Dodge van,
no spot on it.

♪♪

[woman]
First time we saw
a car parked

was the fall of 1990.

Every time I went for
the groceries, I saw the car.

I went and drop off the kids,
I saw the car.

And we kind of thought
that our house was bugged too,

that somebody was looking into
our house all the time.

[woman]
When my kids were small,

you know, they said,
"Oh, it was the bomb."

You know? Like that was
the really cool thing.

That was like the big word,
and we couldn't use it.

And I had to tell my kids "no."

Almost like a swear word,
"you don't say that."

[indistinct radio chatter]

[woman]
You feel like someone's

just invading your life,
you know?

I have a feeling that
there is a camera,

there is something watching.

And you don't feel free,
you don't feel safe.

I don't remember how it felt

to just know that
I'm free in my home.

"This is my home,
it's just ours."

I don't have that feeling.

It's become to the point
where I would call

the neighbor across the street
if a car's parked over there

and you say,
"Do you have a visitor

that owns a car like that?"Mm-hmm.

Isn't that terrible?

It's crazy.

Do you think
you're paranoid?

No, no, no.

No, I'm not.
I'm not, not at all.

No, I just think e--
everything is--

it's happening,
it's going on

and it's--
it's real life.

It's not an imagination,
it's not paranoia.

Mm-mm.

[Assia]
You should know that
I'm a journalist.

I have a master's degree
and years of experience

working in public radio.

Like my neighbors,
I too have seen the cars

parked down the street.

I have censored myself
on the phone

and whispered things
in public places.

It all started in '97
when I was 12.

♪♪

I had two best friends,
Dee and Emma.

Our fathers were really close,
and we spent our childhood

going to picnics,
listening to R&B,

and riding our bikes
after school.

At the same time,
Dee and Emma's dads

were being investigated
by the FBI.

The government accused
their fathers

of supporting
terrorist activity.

In court, all of
the terrorism charges

were dismissed,
but they were convicted

of white-collar crimes.

Emma's dad took a plea
to lobbying without a license

and spent five years
under house arrest,

and Dee's dad
was convicted of mail fraud

and spent four years
in prison.

After serving their time,
they both continued

to get visits from the FBI.

Their families were regularly
interrogated while traveling,

and eventually tired of living

with this constant
harassment and fear.

Both fathers moved out
of the country

and their families
were split up.

Stories like this were not
uncommon in my neighborhood.

And even though
not a single person

in my community has
ever been convicted

of anything related
to terrorism,

we still feel like
we're being watched.

My best friends' lives
were turned inside out

by what happened to them.

And since then,
I have lived in fear

of the day we would be next.

That they would come for me,
for my family.

I need to understand
why the FBI

was targeting my community,
and try to figure out

whether it's still
happening today.

♪♪

[film flapping]

Wrong way.

[whirring]

[gasps]
There it is.

"Bridgeview mosque leaders

"have been under surveillance
for years;

indictments
may be forthcoming."

"The FBI has had problems
going into the mosque.

"During the week, they have
people out on the corners

"doing counter-surveillance.

It's a very
insular community."

♪♪

"A decade-old
federal investigation..."

Wow, so since '93.

♪♪

[indistinct chatter]

"Federal authorities
are investigating

"the Mosque Foundation
in Bridgeview and its leaders

"for possible involvement in
terror-related money laundering.

"The house of worship,
one of the largest

"Islamic centers in Chicago,

has been under
FBI surveillance for years."

Um, when we found
this article,

it was one of
the first confirmations

for me, at least,
that there was

this surveillance that
was going on pre-9/11.

How did you know
that the neighborhood

was under FBI surveillance
for years?

These were people who spoke
on condition of anonymity

who were--
at least confirmed

that the surveillance was real,
that it was official,

that it was--
that it had been

taking place for
quite some time.

Wow, so feder--
like, federal agents?

Well, authorities,
let's say.

Authorities.Autho--
authorities, yes.

Okay, wow.

You know, nobody thought
anyone was bui--

I-I never heard
that anybody

was building bombs
in the basement,

but what they did think
was that there was

money being funneled
through supposedly

legitimate charities
to Hamas.Mmm.

To Hezbollah.
So we wanted to know,

what is making you
investigate people?

You know, what do you--
what do you have?

Yeah.Do you have
bank statements?

Do you have, you know,
"this person bought

something from this person
who paid this person"?

What do you--
what ties are there?

What connections?Sure.

I mean,
for the most part,

almost all of these
investigations

ended without
any indictments.

And the ones that did
result in indictments

were for things
like tax fraud.Yeah.

For things like, you know,
failure to report income.

So you were hitting
a lot of walls when
you were trying to get--

Yes.Because obviously,
as a journalist,

you wanna know, "Okay, well,
they're saying these things.

Well, then why?
What is it based on?"
Right.

Why?
What is it based on?

And time and again,
the actual legal argument

that was presented was
to even discuss the reasons

for doing what we are doing
would violate national security.

Wow.You know,
our grandchildren

will be filing
the FOIA requests

that will eventually
bring all of this out.

But we will not ever
in our lifetimes

be able to know
what happened.

[keyboard clicking]

♪♪

[Robert Wright]
Since August of 1999,

I've been working
to legally expose

the very real and foreseeable

Middle Eastern
terrorist threats

to American citizens
at home and abroad.

The successful investigation,

which was code-named
Vulgar Betrayal--

V-U-L-G-A-R Betrayal,

led to the June 1998 seizure
of $1.4 million

of Middle Eastern
terrorist funding.

[keyboard clicking]

♪♪

[indistinct radio chatter]

[printer whirring]

That's the very first document
in the whole series.

July 11, 1996.

All we know
about why they opened

this investigation
is all here.

It's about
an organization called

the North American
Islamic Trust,

which is an umbrella
organization that

has most mosques in this country
under its umbrella.

Uh, the weird thing
about this is that--

so the ti-- this title here
usually tells you

what kind of crime
they're looking for.

And in the very first ones,
it's all "white-collar crimes."

Look, they have this "IT,"
international terrorism.

So they-- they're looking
for white-collar crimes

but they're saying it's
a terrorism investigation.

So that's the first

kind of question mark
that comes up.

And the list is here.

And these are the major
Muslim organizations

in America today.

So basically,
they thought all of these

mosques and charities
were just one big front,

cover for terrorism.

I mean, what's
the justification for this?

This is the order saying,
"In June of '98,

"we're gonna seize the assets

of an organization
and a person."

And one of the things
they seized

was the house I lived in,

so that's what's
whited out here.

Our upstairs neighbor
was the first American citizen

ever designated
a terrorist.

And we were the neighbors

living downstairs
from him at the time.

[static]

[reporter]
In a middle-class suburb

of Chicago,
living in this house,

a man the U.S. government calls

a designated
global terrorist.

His name, Muhammad Salah.

"NBC News"
caught him peering

out the window
this weekend.

[Assia]
That guy peering out
the window of his own house,

that's Abu Ahmad.

He's publicly known as
the first American citizen

ever put on
the terrorist watch list.

But I knew him best
as Ahmed's dad,

my bighearted
upstairs neighbor.

Abu Ahmad was a trusted man
in our community.

When there was a humanitarian
crisis in Palestine in the '90s,

our mosque sent him
to the West Bank

with thousands of dollars
in donations.

In the Israeli-occupied
West Bank today,

two American citizens
of Palestinian descent

are being held
without charge

in an Israeli
military prison.

While the government here
describes the two Chicagoans

as "agents" for
the fundamentalist group Hamas,

they have not been charged
with a crime,

nor have they been
allowed to see an attorney.

[Assia]
When he was arrested
by the Israelis,

accused of collecting money
for terrorism,

our community
took to the streets

to protest his arrest.

While in Israeli detention,
Abu Ahmad was tortured

and forced to sign
a confession in Hebrew,

a language he didn't speak.

The information collected
by Israeli agents

during interrogation was sent
to FBI agents in Chicago

and became one of
the foundations

for the Vulgar Betrayal
investigation.

[reporter]
Salah, a naturalized
U.S. citizen,

was convicted in Israel.

But after five years
in prison there,

he was allowed
to return to the U.S.

despite protests from
the lead FBI agent on the case

who says Salah
remains a threat.

He and a number of others

should've been arrested,
should've been behind bars,

should've had
their citizenship stripped,

should've been evicted
from this country.

[reporter]
Carrying his eight-year-old son

on his shoulders,
Muhammad Salah reacts

to a not guilty verdict

of aiding and funding
a terrorist organization.

I have to thank
my community

and the larger community.

[Assia]
It didn't matter
that Abu Ahmad

was found not guilty in court.

It didn't matter
that the government

eventually removed his name
from the terrorist watch list.

Once you're labeled
a terrorist,

that red paint
never really comes off.

[Assia]
Come on, Usama.

It's really hard to get
all of you together.

[overlapping chatter]

The Gummy Worms
will be here

to lure you to the table.

What's this?These are FBI documents.

So I found 1,000 pages

of declassified
FBI documents...
Mmm.

...about an investigation
they were doing in Chicago

in the '90s called
Operation Vulgar Betrayal.

Um, one of the most
interesting documents,

"Request for surveillance

"to verify home addresses
and employment.

"The agent anticipates
the interviews

"of approximately
500 individuals and leaders

"of many nonprofit
organizations

"throughout
the United States.

"Individuals who have
invested, contributed,

"and/or d-- donated money

"to the North American
Islamic Trust,

"ISNA, IARA, MAS,

or the Cultural Society
will be interviewed."

Literally any Muslim American
who's involved in a community.

Here's the list
of the people

that are gonna
be interviewed.

If there's
an individual's name,
it's whited out.

There's our school.Straight up.

Our school is at
the top of the list.

So the next document--

and this I'm gonna need
Mama's help with.

"On June 9, 1998,
the assets of 'blank'

"were seized pursuant
to warrants based on

"civil forfeiture
complaint filed

in the United States court,
northern district of Illinois."

So on June 9, 1998,
we lived in that house

that was seized
by the FBI, right?
Yeah.

So, Mama, go ahead,
tell your story.

Uh, we were, I think, shopping,
something like this.

W-- we came,

and we-- we saw these bunch
of women and men in suits--

Were we in the car
with you?

[Rabia]
I think, yeah.

I was, "What's going on?"

Like, I wasn't aware.
I was just say--

Your father's over there.

"FBI, FBI."

They were just
forcing the door,

something like this...The door of our apartment?

Of the building.
I was-- said,

"What they are doing?"
He said, "I think

they are taking over
the-- the building."

Your father told me,
he said...

Without...
Homeless.

Without-- homeless.

So we have to think about
having another apartment.

[Assia]
So this event,
which is documented

in these FBI documents,
basically led

to us living in this house.

♪♪

It's been weird
to find things

that directly relate
to our lives...Yeah.

...in these very bureaucratic
and administrative documents.

Look at that.That's so creepy.

That's so creepy.
[man]
What?

Blank.It's just like,

"'blank' has been
surveilled."

I wanna find out everywhere
that our name is on a list.

And there's way
to do that.

You can sign
this privacy waiver,

and I can submit it
to the FBI and tell them

anywhere your names exist
to release them.

[woman]
All right, let's eat.

Yeah, let's eat.Yes!

So Mama was saying
that last, what,

a couple weeks ago,
she started seeing

a bunch of... cars.Bunch of what?

No, each time there is
something happening,

like a terrorist attack
or something?

[overlapping chatter]You see-- you see
these people.

Yeah.
Yeah.

What, do they come
and knock on the doors

and interview people?No, no, no, no.

I see them in the car.

[overlapping chatter]

Wait, you're--
your doubtful?

You think
she's paranoid?

Does he have a hat
that says "FBI surveillance"?

No, no.
Usama--
Come on, guys.

[Assia]
What do you mean,
"come on, guys"?

What do you mean?
After everything

I just showed you
right now,

you're skeptical
that the FBI--

That was years ago.

No, that was
a month ago.

You think it ended?It's worse now,
it's open-ended.

How is it gonna end
when every other day--

do you read the news?

No.That's unconstitutional.

♪♪

[Rabia]
He gave his name as Mr. Rose.

Several times,
he came.

And he-- he said that,
"I'm an FBI agent."

[Usama]
We don't think that
there's anything wrong.

So I feel fine.
I don't really worry

about being scared
or whatever.

[Rabia]
I start seeing,
you know,

cars with no plate numbers.

No plate number.

[overlapping voices]

Bed. Bed.

Bed.

Good boy.

That's not your bed.

[laughing]
Where you going?

Oh, you're so bad.

You're so bad.

Back to the FBI.

So I want to request information
about my family.

♪♪

[computer beeping]

I'm kinda nervous about giving
the FBI my e-mail.

I am making this request
on behalf of myself, right?

Okay, so I'm gonna...

ask them to give me
everything they have

on Vulgar Betrayal.

"All photographic,
video, and audio media

associated with
this investigation."

Invest-i-ga-tion.

All right,
first FOIA submitted.

Now for the rest.

[kids chattering]

[water running in sink]

There's Mosque Foundation
Bridgeview days.

Really?

[Assia]
Wow.

[Rabia]
One year and three months.

How did you know
about the mosque?

Your dad was here
before me.

Al--He came when
he was young.

Yeah.
Like it was
a temporary thing?

Yeah.

I was happy because
I was close to the mosque.

And, you know, I have a lot
of community around me.

Yeah.
Each family
when they come,

we have to go
and welcome them and...

That's how it was?
Yeah.

If a lady, she's sick
or she had her babies,

we used to organize
ourself...

to cook for her,
to help her in the house.

Wow.
Yeah, because

they don't have
a family here.

So we are the family.

[swings creaking]

♪♪

[Assia]
In 1998, when my little brother

and the fifth kid
in our family was born,

my father decided that
we should move

to a bigger house
in Bridgeview.

While the new house
was being built,

my dad was diagnosed with
stage 3 colon cancer.

And a few months after
we moved in, he was gone.

[blubbering]

I remember for weeks
after he died,

my house was full of
family friends and neighbors

cooking, and cleaning,
and keeping my mother company.

At my father's funeral,
hundreds of people

from around Chicago
came to the mosque.

The imam asked the community

to make a donation
in memory of my father

to help pay off the remainder
of our mortgage.

In less than an hour,
the community donated

more than $200,000.

We paid off our home.

And 19 years later,
we're still here.

It's really easy
for me to talk about

my family, my community,

but it's a lot harder
to talk about myself.

I feel like I can't even
begin to tell you who I am

without getting into
who I'm not.

I was ten years old
when I became aware

that everyone looks at us

like we're all
a bunch of terrorists.

It started with cartoons,

all the bad guys
in the movies

had accents like my parents.

I had to slit a few throats,
but I got it.

We kids were constantly
bombarded with images

of Arabs and Muslims
as radical,

backwards, violent villains.

Money is power.

And so I became aware
of how others see me,

and I learned how
not to come off to people.

Not a terrorist,
not an alien,

not a traitor.

Don't talk too loud
in Arabic at the mall,

don't argue with your parents
in public,

don't talk
with an accent,

don't fail in school,

don't ever break
the rules,

don't look un-American.

I am constantly juggling
within me two conflicting gazes.

How I see myself,

and how I see myself
through the eyes of others.

Through the eyes of a world
that views me

with suspicion and fear.

Some very exciting mail

arrived from
the U.S. Department of Justice,

Federal Bureau
of Investigation.

Three letters, to be exact.

I've been itching
to open them.

Anyway...

Oh, this is the FOIA for
Operation Vulgar Betrayal.

"You have not provided
a compelling argument

"explaining why the public
needs information

"on this subject matter
immediately.

Therefore,
your request is denied."

Okay, letter number two.

You see, the thin letters
are never good news.

It's like, you know,
when you apply to college.

When your app-- when you
get the big package,

you know you got
into the school.

When you get a little letter,
you know it's a rejection.

"This is in response
to your FOIA request--"

for my mom.

"In accordance
with FBI practice,

"this response neither
confirms nor denies

the existence of your subjects
name on any watch lists."

Okay.

This is really crazy.

So this is for my mom,
who was visited

on two separate occasions
by the FBI.

They came to the house,
they interviewed her,

they took notes,
and they left.

So... that is
definitely a record.

♪♪

"Dear Miss Boundaoui,
this is in response

"to your Freedom of
Information Act request.

"Based on the information
you provided,

"we conducted a search
of the records system.

"We were unable to identify
main file records

responsive to the FOIA."

"The mere acknowledgement
of such records

"existence or nonexistence
would, in and of itself,

"trigger harm
to national security.

"Please be advised that
unusual circumstances

applied to the processing
of your request.

"We were advised
that the records

"were not in their
expected location,

"and could not be located after
a reasonable search.

Therefore, we are closing
your request administratively."

It's amazing how many
different ways

they have sent me
rejection letters,

that they don't have things
that I know exist,

that I know are there.

[busy signal]

♪♪

So two days ago,

I got a letter from the FBI.

You know, like these letters
that we've been getting lately.

"Dear Miss Boundaoui,
This is in reference

"to your Freedom of
Information Act request

"on Operation Vulgar Betrayal.

"The Federal Bureau
of Investigation

has located approximately
33,120 pages of records."

[chuckling]

33,120 pages of records.

Just the amount of information
you have to collect about people

to get to 33,000
is enormous.

And knowing like,
the end result.

Knowing that these
33,000 pages of records

never resulted in convicting
anyone of terrorism?

It's shocking,
just the number.

I can't imagine what's
in this.

[reporter]
It's Election Day.

Millions of Americans
have voted already,

and millions more
are at the polls today.

[reporter 2]
An estimated 45 to 50 million
across the U.S.,

with 37 states
and the District of Columbia...

[reporter 3]
The end is finally in sight

to this especially
long and contentious

presidential election.

Mama, could I take
a selfie of us?

We just voted.Yeah.

[camera clicking]

Ugh, I don't want
to see your face,

you... you...

Who are you ta--I don't want to.

Who are you talking to?Trump.

We want to defeat you.[laughing]

This is crazy.

"You come to this country,

"you abide by our laws
and our beliefs,

or you can go back
where you came from."

"Yep, and I plan on stocking
pork-coated ammo

"if any refugees
come near my state.

Not repeating Europe here!"

Oh, my God...You know what?
All of them--

Pork-coated...

They said they wanna
dip bullets in pork blood

and come kill us.

That's what they said.

No, I'm not responding
to them at all.

Yeah, because
they are just...

monster...Yeah, exactly.

Zero.You know what
I was saying?

What they're all
attacking me for saying?

Let me show you,
it's so funny.

I wrote,
"My Muslim vote."

That's the hashtag
everybody is using

if you're gonna vo--
"My Muslim vote

"is for empowerment
and taking a stand

"with fellow communities
of color to say we matter

and we will
make change."Yeah.

Okay...

They're going crazy.

They said leave if you
don't like our laws.

Leave, go back
where you came from.

Oh, yeah,
you go back to...

you go back.

Are you native?Yeah, exactly.

If you are native,
you stay.
Yeah.

You have the right
to stay.

If you are not native,
you are immigrant.

♪♪

[singing in Arabic]

[crowd]
♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday
to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday,
dear Nohah ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪♪

[whooping]

[traffic noise]

Can you talk to me
a little bit about

the investigation, um,
that you worked on,
the very large one?

The name of the investigation

was called Vulgar Betrayal,
do you remember that?

Of course,
how can I forget?

And, um...It's a curious name.

It was a curious name.
FBI always comes up

with very curious nicknames.

I don't know w--
they have a whole department

of people in DC
that do that.

[chuckling]Pretty dramatic, right?

But it was-- it was
an investigation

into how, um, money
was being laundered

through the United States
to support terrorist activity

in the Middle East.

And, um, there was...

an individual
who was targeted,

Muhammad Salah.

And he was ultimately
convicted of--

very, very minor offenses.

And I didn't try that case,
'cause I'd already left--

That's right,
you left in 2000.Yeah, yeah.

Okay, do you think that

this long investigation
was justified?

If there had been
crimes uncovered...

uh, or crimes prosecuted,
that would have been justified.

Um, if the reason

nothing ever came
of the investigation

because there was indeed
nothing there, then--

I mean, it's not a matter
of being justified.

The FBI...

declines cases
all the time--

or the U.S. Attorney's Office
declines cases all the time

'cause there's just
not enough evidence.

Um, but if your...

I think your question
is probably wanting

to go deeper in that.

A-- are you trying to say,

"Do you think
the investigation,

you know, was as a result
of Islamic phobia or prejudice?"

Excuse me. I-I do not.

That certainly
was not my worldview,

c-- certainly is not.

Um, and had I ever thought

that that was
what was happening,

I would've not
been part of it

'cause that is not,
obviously, who I am.

Maybe not so obvious,
but it isn't who I am.

I mean, if it's
a bigger question...

Yeah.
...which is there--

is there Islamic phobia
in this country?

Of course there is.
I mean, there i--

In the FBI?

Well, I can't say that.

It wasn't the first time
that he's thought about

whether or not
it was justified.

Clearly he's thought
about that before.

And in fact,
he gave such--

kind of a dismissive
answer to it,

I feel like he knows
more than he was saying.

[train passing]

You know what is my problem?

I'm like,
"I'm gonna go in there

and I'm gonna be tough and
I'm gonna call this guy out."

But I'm really nice,
and it annoys me.

Maybe not too nice,
but too reserved.

Like you don't wanna
come off too strong.

Because I wanna be liked,
that's it.

I want them to like me,
I want them to be like,

"Oh, look at this
nice Muslim girl.

She speaks good English,
and she seems normal."

Like, honestly,
that's a part of it, too.

I kinda want them
to like me.

[sighing]

♪♪

[music continues over dialogue]

To the families
and victims...

of September 11th,

on behalf of John Vincent,

Barry Carnaby,
and myself,

we're sorry.

♪♪

[Gamal]
I heard that
there's a big case

called Vulgar Betrayal
in Chicago.

Just based on the little bit
that I know,

I'm sure there was
a legitimate reason

to start the case.

The expansion
was very questionable.

To expand to too many
other organizations--

anything with the name
"Islam" or "Muslims"

or "Islamic"
to be under it

was very questionable.

[Assia]
Who was Robert Wright

and how did he
see the world

from your encounters
with him?

Well, he-- he saw himself

as a hero
and a bigger figure.

Was it...

who he was or more?

I don't know.

He-- he thought that

all the Palestinians
were part of Hamas,

and they're all
against Israel.

And...

he-- he went on
that premise, okay?

He continued on this path

without vetting
what he's getting.

[phone trilling]

Hi, my name
is Assia Boundaoui.

I'm just calling back,
somebody from your offices

just gave me a call
about my FOIA request.

Um, he informed me that
the processing

for this FOIA will be,
um, over two years?

Can you-- can you send that
to me in a letter, please?

Because the letter--

Oh, my God.

This is weird,

they've never
called me before.

I'm like, "Can you
e-mail me this, please--"

Okay."That it's gonna
take three years."

He said "no."

I'm like,
"I need it in writing.

Can you put it in a letter?"
And he said "no."

That's strange, right?A little bit.

Well, not just a little bit.
[chuckling]

It's pretty strange.

This feels,
to me, just like

slowing the whole process
down as is.

Yeah, I mean,
this is how bureaucracy

tends to be used
to kind of mitigate

against exposure.
Yeah.

That's what the federal courts
are there for at this point.

I think we need to
go ahead and sue them.

Okay.
We need to file
the lawsuit.

Okay. I mean,
the complaint's ready, so...

Okay.

Fuck.

♪♪

[Assia]
A week after I moved
into this apartment

a few miles away
from my mom's house,

the City of Chicago put up
a speed bump

right in front of my door.

Right away,
I suspected it had

something to do with
surveillance.

You know, so cars
could have an excuse

to slow down just as they
passed my living room windows.

I'm aware that
this sounds crazy.

When I was a teenager,
one of my good friends

started talking about being
followed around

all the time
by men in cars.

Of course we all believed her,

because it was happening
all around us.

A couple of years later,
she had a psychotic break

and was diagnosed
with schizophrenia.

It has weighed on me
for years

that we were all so paranoid

we couldn't even see
that she was sick,

that this was madness.

The line between
what's real and what's not

is really blurry in the place
that I grew up.

And that gray area between
paranoia and the truth

is a dangerous place.

Department of Justice
basically confirmed

that there are 500 files
on individual people

in these 33,000 documents.

And that I can't
have access to them...

You can't--Unless I have people
sign privacy waivers.

I wanna join forces to get
as many people as possible

to sign privacy waivers

so we can flood the courts
with these waivers and say,

"Ha, anywhere that you see
such-and-such person's name,

"we want their file
and we want

their name unredacted
in the documents."

[Bassem]
It's a tough conversation.

To approach community members
who are not active...

Mm-hmm.
...who are not
in this field,

who don't have like,
a clear understanding...Yeah, yeah.

...and are conscious
of FBI surveillance

and repression.
Yeah.

It's gonna be
a hard conversation.

I mean--
But let's not forget

that these visits
did not stop.

No, they haven't.
They haven't.

The last time--I told you the other day,
I was visited.

Another prominent person
in the community was visited.

An organizer.
When? When?

I would say about
two months ago.

They knocked
on your door?

They knocked on
my family's door.

At home?
Yeah.

And they asked
for you by name?

Yeah, and they had
pictures.

Oh, wow.And what did
they ask you?

I mean, they-- they
spoke to my mother.

But my mother
knows what to do.

Mm-hmm.She goes, "I'm sorry,
I can't talk to you.

"Leave your card,
leave your name.

His lawyer will call you."

I think the community,
believe it or not,

is ready to come out there.
The younger generation...

Yeah, I think so too....Arab Americans are ready

to come out
and say stop this terror,

stop this violation,
stop this hate.

I mean, correct me
if I'm wrong.

But I don't know,
I feel like my age--

our age generation is stronger
than our parents'.

Yeah.
I think like,
we've been ready

since day one,
but now like,

with Sessions'
Department of Justice.Yeah.

With Trump in the White House.Yeah.

Like, that has an impact
on the community

whether we like it or not.Oh, absolutely.

Our community's
living in fear.
Yeah, yeah.

So i-- it's a very
sensitive topic,

but I think
it could be done.

All right,
let's do this.

♪♪

I am suing the FBI
for information

about surveillance,
about Bridgeview.

And I need as many people
as possible to sign

privacy waivers so
if the FBI has a file on them,

they will release it.

[train passing]

So we're going
door-to-door

trying to get people
to sign these forms.

♪♪

Basically,
the FBI told us

they have 500
individual records

on people in our community.

♪♪

So we have a law firm

representing us
for the lawsuit.

One of the biggest
law firms in New York

that took on this case
because they believe

our community
has a right to know.

♪♪

I tried to explain this
to my mom yesterday.

And she was just like--Confused.

"We left Algeria
because of the police,

now we're gonna come here
'cause of the police."

Yeah, exactly.She's like,
"Don't get involved."

Oh, that's so funny.
Yeah.

So it's like
a cultural mentality

that we're really
trying to change,

'cause that's a lot
of people's mind-set

is that like,
"Don't get involved,

keep your head ducked down,
and that will keep you safe."

But we know staying quiet
actually hasn't

kept anyone safe
in this community.

[Assia]
Hi!

[Alexa Poletto]
Good to see you.

Good to see you.

Give me a hug.How're you doing?

Really nervous.No, don't be nervous.

This'll actually be really
straightforward, I think.

Okay, cool.I think the judge
is gonna kind of say,

you know, "Have you
come to any agreement?"

And we're gonna say "no,

and this is
what's happened."Yeah.

And it'll be nice to meet him,
and it's good for him

to kind of... see you.Okay, yeah, cool.

[laughing]

Yeah, it'll be good.Yeah, so--

A few people will come.

It's a status hearing,
so they know it'll be short.

Yeah.
But maybe
a handful of people

from the community
will show up?

So we'll see, yeah.Great, great.
That's excellent.

♪♪

Good morning, Your Honor.
This is Alexa Poletto

for Assia Boundaoui,
the plaintiff.

One year ago, my client,
who is a journalist,

submitted this FOIA request
to the government

asking for information
which is very much

in the public interest.

This request was denied
by the government.

One year later, we don't
have a document in hand.

The FBI currently has
the Russian investigation,

James Comey, other things
that are headline news.

[Judge]
"Headlines" doesn't
cut it for me

as being more important
than a request

from a citizen
for documents.

[Alexa]
Today, my real interest

is having the government
compelled to a schedule

to produce documents.

The standard
the FBI uses

is review 500 pages,

and processing them
on a monthly basis.

[Judge]
I don't think
500 pages per month

is going to be acceptable
in this case

for a FOIA request
that's been pending

since September
of last year.

Absent something telling me
I can't do it,

I'm going to order processing

at a faster rate
than has occurred.

I don't think we need
to discuss this more.

I'll have you back
next week.[gavel pounds]

[man]
I think Muslim Americans

are aware of the threat
of increased...

[reporter]
As racist groups
of the past

have gotten new life,
like it or not, from Trump.

[reporter 2]
An Islamic center
in Houston, Texas

burns down in a fire
still under investigation.

[man 2]
You have individuals

who are driven to act
on their prejudices

and take it out on women

who visibly appear
to be Muslim.

[Muslim prayer
over loudspeaker]

[crowd chattering]

[prayer continues]

[indistinct chatter]

♪♪

[indistinct chatter,
laughter]

[radio static]

Wow. Look.

"Google may have detected

government-backed attackers
trying to steal your password."

I clicked on
the "Learn More,"

and this popped up.

That's really frightening.

This is all--
all of it is hard.

Suddenly it becomes hard
to communicate.

It's interesting.
Once you're under investigation,

it's not that you're--
you stop talking to people

because you don't trust them,
it's because you're afraid

that any f-- like, medium of
communication is being watched.

And so nothing
is secure anymore,

and so you keep to yours--
I mean, the idea--

like, you become alienated,
you can't talk to people

about what the fuck
is going on.

You can't even get
the help that you need

because you're afraid.

So one thing I did
that was proactive

other than freaking out

was I e-mailed
that woman

at the Freedom of
the Press Foundation,

Harlo, and I took screenshots
of all those things.

And I was like...

"Is this legit?
Because the URL looks legit.

Is it legit? And if it is,
like, what should I do?"

And she responded
this morning and she said,

"Google has methods
of detecting

"this type of attacks
on people's accounts.

"And for some reason,
a lot of alerts

have been going out
to people this past week."

So I am going
to my mother's house

to sleep over for the night.

And, uh, been having
to find a way

to hide all my shit
whenever I leave the house

because I'm afraid
that someone might

break into the house,

whoever it is
that's watching me,

and steal my hard drives
for the film.

So every time
I leave the house now,

I hide the stuff.

♪♪

[helicopter hovering]

Apparently there was
a robbery nearby,

and there's three me--
or two men on the loose.

They already caught one,
two more waiting to be caught.

So all of our parents
are stuck in the mosques

and they can't get out till
the other two are caught.

[sirens wailing]

[indistinct chatter]

[Assia]
Your house?

No, no, Assia.
Please, please.

Assia, please.

Please...

[helicopter hovering]

[Assia]
What are you hearing
about what happened?

[Sohib]
The lockdown?

I heard that it
was an FBI sting

that went wrong.

[toy clattering]Shh.

Warrants.

So let me-- okay,
so that's your theory.

Here's what--
we're sitting with

one of our neighbors yesterday,
and she was saying that

they told us that this
was a sting or bank robbers.

But this was actually
a test run...

...to see how
Bridgeview reacts?

And she said if it was really
people with assault rifles

that were in our
neighborhood loose,

why wasn't there
a single ambulance?Yeah, exactly.

Why wasn't there
a single fire truck?

Don't you have
EMTs waiting?

There are three guys loose
with assault rifles

in the neighborhood,
not a single ambulance.

Also, if there was
no coordination,

why exactly when
it happened we had

seven police departments'
cars here?

How did they
show up so quick?

How was there a-- a tank

rolling down
in front of the mosque?

Many times.Many times.

The next day
in the press,

they said this was
not a bank robbery.

So they told us it was
a bank robbery on the day of,

and the next day
they denied it.

They said there
was no bank robbed.

W-- what?

They said,
"We refuse to say why."

See?
That means this--

what we thought
was true.

[child murmuring]

[traffic noise]

[Judge]
I received, yesterday,

a motion for
an Open America stay

seeking essentially to stay
any production

or at least delay it.

The period
was some 64 months.

[Alexa]
We tried to negotiate
with the government

again this week,
and were informed immediately

that they would not be entering
into any discussions with us.

We discussed it
with the FBI

at the highest level,
and they felt

that they could not
do anything more.

[Judge]
It's a fairly
extraordinary request,

going from saying
it will take three years

and now requesting essentially
a five-year timetable.

This is an old
criminal investigation,

and there's just
no justification for that.

This is a very serious issue

that is very pertinent today
to very many Americans.

My client is entitled
to expedited processing.

[Judge]
Whether the FBI thinks

that it's a nuisance to have
to respond to this,

it's still the federal law.

I can't change that,
you can't change that,

and you can't ignore the law.

Next Tuesday
you'll get a ruling.

[indistinct chatter]

[applause]

My name is Assia Boundaoui.

I'm a researcher
and a journalist,

and I actually grew up
in this community

just a few blocks away
from the mosque here.

I just wanna begin
by saying that,

um, I believe strongly
that a healthy relationship

between law enforcement,
government, and our community

has to be one
that's predicated

on trust and transparency.

For the past few years,
I've been digging

into the long,
wide-reaching investigation

of this Muslim community.

These investigations
profiled entire communities

based on ethnicity
and religion,

and used a really
broad brush to paint

law-abiding American citizens
as suspect.

These might have
happened in the past,

but people are still
living with the effects

of these long-term
investigations.

They've caused, um,
profound impacts

on our community.

Um, and one of them,

one that aught
to be of concern

to government institutions

is the lack of trust
in law enforcement.

We did a survey
a couple years ago.

40% of residents
around this mosque here

have received visits
from the FBI.

And so after every
terrorist attack

in Paris, in Boston,
people get visits around here.

And right before
the elections,

many people
in this neighborhood

received knocks
on their doors,

asked a number
of questions about

political affiliations,
et cetera.

Say we brought that to you,
what would--

what are the steps
internally within the FBI

that you would take
to address

what we would consider
maybe a civil rights concern?

Tha-- that's exactly
what happened.

We-- I actually
have it documented.

They have--
we have cards,

business cards that
they handed out.

I'm telling you
it actually happened.

Mm-hmm.

Right before the election,
so we--

That was in November.

I mean, these are just
like, things that people

in the community have--
have talked about--

If something happens
to you and you needed--

the FBI is your champion.

So at one time,
he is your savior.

And another time,

he is your
Halloween nightmare.

No, I mean,
you have to--

that's the kind of education
we need to tell people.

It's gonna continue
to take education...

♪♪

He is part of the group
of community leaders we have

that thinks just saying,
you know...

just being "yes men"
to the FBI, and law enforcement,

and local politicians is the way
to get a seat at the table.

The whole point of having
a seat at a table

is to advocate
on behalf of the community.

You know? It's to like--
it's to make sure

our community's
rights are protected

and our interests
are being served.

Otherwise, what the fuck
is the point of having

a seat at the table?

♪♪

It's so hard.

The hardest part is
dealing with this community

that's not even fighting
against the FBI...

What's the point?

They're treating me
like I'm their enemy.

Like, I have to fight them
to do this.

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

[birds chirping]

[phone trilling]

[Rabia]
Hello?

[Assia speaking Arabic]

What happened?

Oh, my God.

[speaking Arabic]

You don't ask him,
"Who are you"?

Mama!

Okay, I just
took a picture.

I'm sending it to
your WhatsApp.

Look a-- look at it
and tell me if that's him.

I mean, this picture
is about

maybe 12 years old.

Oh, my God,
I'm so scared!

He's Robert Wright,
the FBI agent

who started
Vulgar Betrayal.

[phone trilling]

[Assia]
Oh...

What's that?
Say that again?

I missed that.

Yeah...

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah, I usually record
all of my phone calls.

Um, but if you
opt out of that,

I don't have to do that.

Okay, okay.
I cannot record you.

[Assia]
I hung up with
Bob 20 minutes later.

He talked and talked,

but didn't say
very much at all.

The most illuminating part
of the conversation

was when he told me
he had a job to do,

and me and my neighbors
had a job to do.

We're the bad guys
doing our bad guy jobs,

and he's the good guy doing
his good guy job

of keeping America
safe from us.

I thought as
a good journalist,

I should try and see
if Bob would be a source.

I reached out
for an interview,

but when he didn't
answer my text

I immediately stopped trying.

There's no way for me here

to separate the personal
and the professional.

The truth is I don't want
anything to do with this guy,

and I don't care if that
makes me a bad journalist.

Can you move it
back a little?

[Sohib]
That's pretty good, though.
We can see the whole walkway.

We can see the cars.
Yeah.

But the front door,
a little more

of the front door,
we wanna be able to see.

Move it back.

Any more of the front door,
it'll just be that dark.

Back a little more?
That's perfect.

I know...

I don't know.
I don't know.

When I called him,
he said,

"Did I scare your mom?"

Was that your goal?Were you trying
to scare her?

Yeah, is it you--
yeah, is it your goal?

What do you think?[drill whirring]

[Assia]
And he laughed.

So what came out
of your phone call?

I was trying very hard

to sound very cool, calm,
and collected on the phone--

This was all
by the phone?Yeah, and not scared.

But I was really shook.
I was super shook.

I was really-- I know
I have no reason to be afraid,

but I was really afraid.

Like, why is
he coming t--

he knows where we live,
he knows who my mom is,

he knows what her face is.

[Rabia]
Because he had been--

He sauntered into
the neighborhood like,

"Oh, yeah, my old
stomping grounds."

Like, that makes me so mad.

What's the purpose?Mm-hmm.

[Rabia]
Why he's here?

Yeah, well, I still don't have
an answer for any of that.

♪♪

[Judge]
Before the court
is plaintiff's motion

that compel expedited
processing of her request

for FBI records concerning

the anti-terrorism operation
Vulgar Betrayal.

Plaintiff is informing
the public of the FBI's

alleged profiling
and surveillance

of communities based on race,
religion, and ethnicity.

In particular, the Arab-American
community in Bridgeview.

Significant questions
about privacy rights

are implicated by
the plaintiff's project.

The court finds
that the anticipated

five-year timeline
for production

is patently unreasonable,

and plaintiff is entitled
to expedited processing.

The court orders
the defendants to review

3,500 pages per month,
and give priority

to the subfiles of individuals
for whom plaintiff

provides privacy waivers.

I'm very happy, you guys.

I'm so happy.

We couldn't have
expected--

we couldn't have asked
for anything better.

Can we do like
a, you know,

jumping in the air
and the kicking thing now?

[all laughing]

[Assia ululating]

You get arrested...

♪♪

[radio host]
Nobody would like to be

the target of
a government program

called Operation
Vulgar Betrayal.

Assia Boundaoui grew up
in Bridgeview,

and she's now uncovering

what happened there
in the '90s.

You've been having some
interesting encounters

with the government,
trying to get files

from the government.

Um, wha-- how did
that spiel out?

Because you ended up with

an enormous volume
of documents.

[Assia]
3,500 pages a month.

Which is setting a really
important FOIA precedent,

in fact,
in FOIA litigation

that, you know,
that you--

if this is in
the public interest

and you can prove
this serves
a public interest,

that the government
has to release.

And so the whole idea
of this entire project,

this entire mission,
was to shine a light

on something that's been
secret for such a long time.

When you won
your court case,

did people make
a big deal out of that?

Is th-- is that a big--

I mean,
'cause it seems like

it would be almost
national news.

I mean,
we were very excited.

[laughing]

We were super excited
about it.

The community
was really excited.

I-I think they were
really surprised.

I think they didn't think
you go up

against the government
and win.

And that's a very
interesting thing,
by the way.

The FOIA law is very unique
to the United States.

You know, that while
the government can

conduct this surveillance

and can violate
your privacy

and freedom of association,
freedom of religion,

you also have the right
to know that they do that.

You know? And that's
an incredible thing

about this democracy is
you have the right to know,

and you can get the records
of them violating your rights.

[rain falling]

This is the first batch.

It looks like,
in terms of redacting,

like they redacted
as much as they--Heavy-handed.

Heavy-handed.Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So it's fill in the blanks.So it's gonna be difficult,

but, um, we can--
I think we'll be able

to glean some things
out of this.
Okay.

♪♪

This paper here
says in 1989,

the FBI field office
in Indianapolis

opened an investigation
on the Islamic Trust,

and then closed it.

I mean, this is
really interesting.

I had no idea that there
was an investigation

on the same topic
before Vulgar Betrayal.

♪♪

Pending questions
and answers.

What were the tactics used
in Vulgar Betrayal?

Informants.
Culling informants

from the community.

Sending FBI agents
to people's houses

and places of work.

Use of immigration
officers

during FBI interviews.

They monitored phone calls,

and they monitored
who you're sending it to.

♪♪

Chicago FBI field office
sends out requests

to like 20-some other
FBI field offices

asking them, get information
on this person,

get information on
this organization.

Here's one from Louisiana.

And they're like,
"We can't find anything."

"That he doesn't believe
there is sufficient evidence

of asset forfeiture."

Again, one from Denver.
No response.

[Assia]
"In the future,
Springfield requests

"that Chicago articulate
the reasonable belief

"that each named person
is engaged in criminal activity

in support of
international terrorism."

The things that they found
as suspicious about us

are actually the things
that are most important

characteristics
of our community.
Yeah.

We're very philanthropic,

and we're connected
to each other.

♪♪

I always thought that
paranoia is an effect

of the investigative tactics
that they used.

The way they did
the investigation

caused us to be paranoid.

But what if-- what if some
of these things are reversed?

It's not that this
is the cause

and that's the effect,

what if this
was the purpose?

Based on historically
how the FBI

has dealt with
communities of color,

it's not a stretch
of the imagination to say

their surveillance methods
created paranoia.

But in fact,
they wanted to create paranoia

within the Muslim community.

Shake the cage,
rattle the cage

and see what comes out.Right.

And they thought there
were terrorists there,

so that if they put enough
heat and pressure on us,

they would come out
of the woodworks

and they would catch them
on a phone call

or whatever
when they did.

But w-- when you
rattle a cage

and there aren't
any criminals crawling out,

what does that do
to the people

in the cage,
you know?

♪♪

[protestors shouting]

[indistinct chatter]

♪♪

[indistinct chatter]

[indistinct chatter]

[Christina]
Everybody in this room knows

exactly what we're
talking about

when we're talking
about the increase

in surveillance
in the community,

increase in this presumption

that the community
is something of a threat.

That started from Operation
Vulgar Betrayal in the '90s

and that informed not
just methods of investigation,

but also legislation
that was enacted post-9/11.

[Assia]
Law enforcement
and the FBI in particular

feel like they can roll
into our community

and kind of do
whatever they want.

We want to send the message
that no, they can't.

And we do that
by reporting

every single time
they come.

Checks and balances
starts with people.

Um, the balance
are the courts and Congress.

The check is the people.

As long as we're scared,
and we hide, and we say,

"Talking about it somehow
makes us more of a target,"

it actually plays into
the entire secrecy
of the whole game.

As long as people
are afraid to talk,

then there is no check
against the system.

We cannot be asleep
any longer.

This is our country.

I wanna raise my boys
to be proud of who they are

as Arab, as Muslims,

as Palestinians,
and as Americans.

[applause]

Whether you are
a citizen born here

or a citizen
naturalized,

or an immigrant,

don't feel that you are
less of a citizen

than the white man.

They definitely
understand the fears

that our immigrant communities
come to this country with.

They know we wanna
invite them in

to have a cup of tea
or coffee

and prove to them that
we're great American citizens.

And I just wanna say...

It's very simple,

do not invite them
into your home.

[applause]

[indistinct chatter]

♪♪

[Assia]
A 20-minute drive
from my mom's house

is the only panopticon prison
ever built in the U.S.

The panopticon
is designed to ensure

that the prisoner is seen
without ever seeing,

and that the guards
see everything

without ever being seen.

The prisoners feel like
they are under

such constant surveillance that
they change their own behavior.

Their paranoia becomes
as effective a tool of control

as actual surveillance.

They become silent,
docile, alienated.

I still don't know for
a fact whether the FBI

has ever stopped
watching us,

and perhaps there's nothing that
I can do about being watched.

Maybe the only thing
I can do is make sure

that the government
is not invisible,

that the systems of power
are kept in check.

It's in the act
of looking back

and talking out loud that
we become less alienated,

less petrified by
our paranoia.

Perhaps the only way
to disrupt surveillance

is to make sure that those
who do the watching

are also being watched.

[wind whistling]

♪♪