Original subtitles

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.

Sorry. Sorry. I'm sorry.

It's just--

Come on. Pick up.

Leave a message, please.

I know I screwed up,

but you said I could always call,

so I'm calling.

I saw something.

Something bad. And just call me, please.

Hey! What's up?

- Which train was it? - J train to Brooklyn.

Train pulled in at 11:53 p.m.

Looks like the guy was waiting to get on.

Oh, boy.

Lines have been shut down in both directions.

This is the northbound.

Trying to get the southbound back up ASAP.

Where was the point of impact?

By this column.

Oh.

We got a name for this guy?

Yes, sir. His ID was left in his pocket.

Raymond James Clark.

Hey, see if you can get a TARU guy

and tap into this DAS cam on the fly, huh?

Yes, Detective.

Listen, you know me.

I never like to sound callous,

but guys jump in front of trains all the time.

Why is Homicide here?

Yo, Duke.

Duke Archer.

Been driving this train 27 years.

Tell him what you told me.

Saw that man's face.

I'll never forget it.

I've had dudes step in front of me on purpose.

Twice.

This wasn't that.

Detectives, the DAS footage.

Thanks.

Damn.

Duke was right.

That's not a man who wanted to die.

Oh, there she is. Welcome back.

Hey. How was your vacation?

Fantastic.

But I'm glad to be back and getting paid again.

What do you got?

No reports of any mentally ill people

or disorderlies threatening anyone in the subway station.

So if it wasn't random? - It was personal.

Techs cleaned up the video. We got a bracelet.

Leather, braided, some kind of insignia.

Um, we got some footage from outside of the station.

It's no help, though.

60 or 70 people come and go

and there's no sign of that bracelet on any of them.

What do we know about the victim?

Not a whole hell of a lot.

He was a three-sport athlete in high school.

Apparently, a pretty good one.

No sheet.

LKA on the license was a bust. No forwarding.

Cell phone was crushed by the train.

But according to the cloud,

he made a quick call two minutes before he died.

Number's unregistered.

This is Sergeant Chen.

Did you say sergeant?

Who the hell is this?

19, 20, 21.

22, 23, 24, 25.

Really brings you back, huh?

Yeah, I like the past where it is--

in the past.

- Freddy Chen. - Thanks for meeting us, Sarge.

I was out cold when Raymond called.

Got his message this morning.

I tried him back, got voicemail.

Now I know why.

I know I screwed up,

but you said I could always call, so I'm calling.

I saw something. Something bad.

And just call me, please.

Any idea what he might have seen?

Wish I did.

He was a great kid.

So Raymond was in the Academy?

Till he flunked a random drug test.

Said he had a bum shoulder, high school football thing.

And once he got into the Academy,

he knew he wasn't gonna pass our physical exam.

Too much pain. Tried masking it with pills.

Just bad judgment.

You got a current address for him?

Ms. Clark...

Now, you have any idea

what Raymond was doing in the city last night?

Nothing unusual about that.

But I--I can't tell you why he was there.

Was Raymond having any problems?

I think he was a little lost, honestly.

Didn't know where he fit, where he belonged.

That's why he wanted to be a cop so bad.

Ma'am, do you know of any reason

why anyone would want to hurt Raymond?

No.

He was a gentle soul.

Though...

the other night, there was this guy.

He came by banging on the door yelling for Raymond.

I didn't open the door. I was scared.

I told him Raymond wasn't home.

And then they left?

Yeah.

I watched him leave through the window.

But he said he'd be coming back.

Can you tell us what this man looked like?

Hey.

A man fitting the description

Raymond Clark's mom gave just popped up on a security camera

from the bodega next door.

Took off on a motorcycle after he left the mom's house.

License plate came back to a Luke Bragg.

Luke Bragg?

That Luke Bragg? - Boxer?

Yeah, who turned into a men's rights activist.

Guy's a real charmer too.

He doesn't think women should drive or vote.

Yeah, his latest venture is the Alpha Institute,

a self-help course helping to turn young men

into business gods like him.

Runs it out of a boxing gym in Midtown.

Go ruin this prick's day.

Gotta be better than that, gentlemen.

Come on. You're fighting for all of us!

Prove that you belong here! Prove that you are an alpha!

All right, fellas.

Let's wind it down for a minute, yeah?

What's this about?

NYPD. That's what this is about.

What do you want?

Raymond Clark is dead.

- So? - So you sent him an email.

"You're a beta, Raymond.

And the only good beta is a dead beta."

Oh, that's funny?

Let's take a ride, Luke.

I got nothing to hide.

I meant every word about Raymond Clark.

Raymond Clark spent his entire life savings

on your institute.

You should have been sending him flowers,

not banging on his door.

I wanted to chat.

About what?

Look.

I didn't do this, lady.

Lady?

I prefer Lieutenant.

But whatever.

Listen, we can do this two ways.

You can answer my questions and go home

or you can play tough guy

and we'll hold you for 48 hours or so.

You know, I gave Raymond Clark

his place in the world.

I turned him into the man he wanted to be.

So what happened?

He spit in my face,

rejected my teachings, and left the program.

Well, you already had all his money.

What did you care?

Because I was trying to help him.

Seriously?

Why did you care?

Okay, fine.

Raymond tried to blow me up.

He tried to convince my other students that I was a fraud.

Made lots of defamatory TikToks about me.

So he threatened your business empire

and you killed him.

No.

I didn't kill Raymond.

Then where were you last night?

Luke Bragg's alibi is good.

Not gonna lie, I was really hoping it was him.

I get it, but it's not.

Bragg was right about one thing, though.

Raymond Clark was coming after him.

Raymond figured out that Bragg's self-help crap

was just a pyramid scheme to sell protein powder,

so he made a bunch of videos

to make sure the rest of the world knew.

Hey. Finally got Clark's texts.

And?

The last text he sent was to someone named Noah.

Clark said he was worried about him

and that he was heading to Noah's apartment now.

Which means this Noah could be the last person

to have seen him alive.

Okay, run the number. Find out where he lives.

Police. Open up.

We're looking for Noah Turan.

My son's not here.

You mind if we come in?

Just have a few questions for you.

Of course.

What's going on? Is Noah okay?

We're not sure. You know where he is?

No, not at the moment.

This your son's bracelet?

Yes.

Ma'am, when was the last time you saw him?

Uh, this morning. What is this about?

We need to talk to him about his friend, Raymond Clark.

What about Raymond?

He's dead.

What? Raymond's dead?

Check this out.

M112. - That's C-4.

It was in his bedroom.

What is your son doing with explosives?

Is he building a bomb?

A bomb? Of course not!

He works at my restaurant. He's a good boy.

Good boys don't play with C-4.

Let's go.

Mother's downstairs if we need her.

What do we have?

Suspect is Noah Turan, age 22.

Do we have his electronic devices yet?

We recovered his laptop,

and Vince is with the techs right now

trying to break into it as we speak.

What are you thinking?

I don't know, but something just feels off.

I mean, Turan lives a quiet life, no record.

He delivers food for his mom's restaurant

and as far as Raymond Clark goes,

they've been best friends since third grade.

They're like brothers.

Since when does murder make sense?

Hey. Guys, we cracked the laptop.

We got into Turan's messages.

Someone sent him a PDF

from an encrypted number a couple hours ago.

It's in Arabic.

We don't know what the hell it says yet,

but it did come with these instructions in English.

"In three hours, the world will learn

"they cannot ignore the injustice

"suffered by our people.

"Post this before your triumph.

Allah will meet you in paradise."

He's planning a terrorist attack.

Stop the work!

We have a potential terrorist attack.

Our suspect, Noah Turan,

received a text placing him in Brooklyn

somewhere near Grand Army Plaza.

I need a TTL ping on his phone now.

917-555-0167.

Let's track him in real-time. Come on, move it.

Jesus.

Lou, what's going on in the Brooklyn Public Library?

Let's go. I need answers now.

Lou, there's a conference at the Brooklyn Library.

Chinese dignitaries are meeting

with the U.S. Trade Representative.

Jalen.

Lou, we're approaching the library.

We need the suspect's location now.

This has got to be the target.

I'm gonna go east.

JOC's up and running.

Counterterrorism and FBI are on board.

Where's my ping?

Here.

Well, we need to refine it.

I'm working on it.

Lieutenant Brady, I got him.

Suspect's on the north side of the library heading west.

And who's that?

It's Shaw.

Jalen, you're right on top of him.

protestors: End forced labor!

End forced labor! End forced labor!

I got a positive. He's headed for the entrance.

Noah Turan! Police!

Show me your hands! Show me your hands!

No, no, no!

Do not reach in that bag!

Everybody, clear the area!

Everybody, move!

Kid, I will shoot you!

- Detonator's secure! - Detonator's secure!

Get the bomb techs in here now!

We'll talk about the bomb later.

I just wanna know

why you killed Raymond Clark.

I'm not talking about that.

Okay, that's your right.

In China...

2 million Uyghur Muslims are being held in camps.

Why did you kill Raymond Clark?

Children are separated from their parents.

Women are gang-raped.

Men are sterilized.

They have to renounce their own faith.

We have video of you.

57 seconds before Raymond died, you entered the subway.

30 seconds later, you exit, hood up.

I think you regret it already.

The bracelet you were wearing,

we found that in your apartment.

This is not theory. This is fact.

Your life as you know it is now over.

Sit tight.

The bomb was fake?

Or a mistake.

Either way, bomb squad took apart the device

that he had on him when we arrested him.

It was never gonna work. Take a look at this.

The blasting cap had no ignition charge

and the C-4 was fake.

So there was nothing to explode

and nothing to ignite it.

What the hell's going on here?

Okay, now, let's talk about the bomb.

Your blasting cap had no charge.

You were carrying around four packs of "C-4,"

which was, in fact, molding clay,

the kind you buy at an arts and crafts store.

It was basically Play-Doh. You were carrying a toy bomb.

No.

No, that can't be true.

You didn't know?

I'm gonna ask you one more time.

Why did you kill Raymond Clark?

He was your best friend.

I...

I thought I had no choice.

How strong is our murder case?

It appears to be a slam dunk.

The evidence backs up the confession.

Which is?

According to the defendant,

Raymond Clark went over to Noah Turan's apartment,

saw that he was building a bomb.

Clark got spooked, ran out.

Turan chased him down, killed him.

- To protect the mission? - Correct.

What about terrorism-related charges?

Not easy to charge someone for not bombing something.

Yeah. Even if we could,

it's not gonna be as serious as murder, so.

Until we know more...

Let's move forward with what we know to be true.

Noah Turan murdered Raymond Clark.

Nolan?

Turan wants to proffer.

Okay, so what's this all about?

My client is prepared to plead out to reduce charges.

And why would we agree to that?

He confessed to killing Raymond Clark.

We know that.

But he's willing to give up his boss.

"What gives you life is jihad. Live to die."

The script that Noah was supposed to post.

But those are not his words.

They're the words of a jihadist,

the man who radicalized my client.

Who knows how many other men are out there right now

getting groomed by this man?

You could look at this cynically or practically.

You can save lives.

Do you know who this jihadist is?

He said his name is Karim.

I've seen him.

Noah was a foot soldier.

And for that, he's willing to take responsibility

and plead guilty in the death of Raymond Clark.

But this jihadist...

he's at war with America

and using kids like Noah to do the dirty work.

Where might we find this jihadist?

I got eyes on a man that resembles Karim.

Black jacket, gray pants.

Let's go.

Hey. NYPD.

Do not move.

Uh-uh. Don't do it. Don't move.

You don't wanna do this.

Oh, yes, we do. Trust me.

Hands behind your head. Take a knee.

Just relax. Let me explain.

Get on the ground.

Get on the ground!

You're making a mistake.

Yeah?

And why is that?

I'm FBI, sweetheart.

- So Noah Turan was your mark? - Mm-hmm.

I've been working him hard undercover.

Yesterday was the big day.

He was supposed to meet me at the service entrance

of the Brooklyn Library to deliver the bomb

and I was going to arrest him.

Then what?

Sayonara. Enjoy Gitmo. I move on.

So you knew that the bomb Noah was carrying

was-- - Of course.

I gave him the components.

- But he did not know? - No.

He's an idiot,

an idiot who hates our country and our freedoms.

What's going on?

Your mark committed a murder.

He what?

His friend, Raymond Clark.

He pushed him in front of a train

and he claims he did that because of you.

And you're listening to him?

You people screw up a three-month operation,

put me on my knees at gunpoint...

now you're blaming me for some moron killing his friend?

Have a nice day and kiss my ass.

We went fishing for a jihadist.

We caught the FBI instead. Agent Joshua Haddad.

Mm.

We got a guilty plea out of this.

Noah Turan is spending ten years in prison,

so we didn't come away empty-handed.

Beyond that, we're done.

- We're not so sure, Nick. - What does that mean?

Noah Turan's plea required him

to share his encrypted conversation with Agent Haddad.

Three months' worth, 24,000 texts.

- And? - Well, it's s-shocking.

Agent Haddad was extremely aggressive.

That's his job.

No, no, he crossed a line.

He didn't find a monster, he created a monster.

What do you mean?

Turan had no interest in hurting anyone.

But Agent Haddad wouldn't let it go,

wouldn't take no for an answer.

Just kept at it until Turan became radicalized.

Sit down with Turan.

Talk to him about Haddad, his tactics.

If we're gonna go after the FBI, we better be right.

The first time Agent Haddad brought up the idea of a bomb,

I said, hell no, I'm out.

And the response?

He got nasty.

This isn't an organization you quit.

You're in too deep.

He told me this went way up.

It was one thing to let him down.

That would be bad. But the people he worked for?

I mean, you just didn't do it.

Did he say who that was?

Daesh.

The Islamic State?

Yeah. Look, I'm not a--

I deliver kebabs on a bicycle, you feel me?

So I blocked him on Telegram.

But he tracked me down.

Showed up to my mother's restaurant,

sat down like he was a customer.

Said his name was Karim,

the guy I'd been talking to on Telegram.

Had you mentioned your mother's restaurant to him?

No. It was creepy.

And then it got...

evil, man.

He started talking about the restaurant, the laminate walls.

Said they burn real easy.

One match, the whole place goes up.

And my mother's--

I mean, she killed herself making that place work,

you know, so we could have a life.

Karim didn't have to say another word.

I said, I'll do anything you want.

Just...

leave her out of this.

And at some point, you became a believer?

You were ready to kill.

You didn't know that bomb was fake.

No.

Over time, I guess I...

broke or something.

He made me feel like family.

Took me to Yankees games.

And the stuff he kept telling me about my mom's people,

it was real.

People are dying every day and no one cares, so--

He gave me a purpose.

Why did you kill Raymond Clark?

Karim told me to do it.

He said I needed to "take care of the problem."

Sean, come on in.

How are you?

How am I?

I just got a call you executed a search warrant

at Joshua Haddad's apartment.

Whoa. Slow down.

He's a decorated FBI agent, Nick.

You don't just show up at his door with a warrant.

Not without calling me first.

It's more complicated than that.

The hell are you talking about?

We're charging him with manslaughter.

Manslaughter?

Who are you claiming he killed?

Raymond Clark.

The kid who died in the subway?

Have you lost your mind? He had nothing to do with that.

We believe differently.

You know what this type of work requires,

what it looks like.

You did it.

We did it together.

We didn't do it like this, Sean.

Please spare me the lecture.

You're making a mistake.

A very dangerous mistake.

So you didn't consider yourself a radical?

An extremist?

No.

I was just trying to

stand with Uyghur Muslims back in China.

I was born here, but that's my mom's people.

And it's--it's horrible.

And that's how the defendant, Agent Haddad,

found you in the first place, isn't it?

Yes.

I, uh,

commented on a couple of Reddit posts

about the Uyghur people

and I just was trying to show support.

And then Agent Haddad,

back when he was posing as Karim,

he DM'd you to start a conversation.

Yes.

And we started talking privately through Telegram.

Encrypted messages.

And what was the first thing that Karim taught you?

That I needed to take the rage I had for China

and put it on America.

He said that if it was any other country doing this,

the U.S. would do something.

Did Agent Haddad teach you how to make a bomb?

Yes.

Did he buy you the materials for that bomb?

Choose your target?

Yes.

And on that fateful night,

when Raymond Clark saw the bomb in your apartment and ran,

was your first act to chase him down and kill him?

No.

I loved Raymond like I would love my own brother.

No.

The first thing I did was, I called Karim.

Your jihadist handler,

the man we now know is Agent Haddad.

And what did you tell him?

I said, you know, my friend saw the device.

Please, call it off. Call the whole thing off.

And how did Agent Haddad reply?

He told me that nothing could stop us.

And that I needed to take care of the problem.

How did you interpret that?

I mean, he'd already threatened my family,

warned me not to disappoint the Islamic State.

I thought if I didn't obey...

he'd kill me.

Or my mom.

I have nothing further.

You're here because you're required to be here, yes?

I made a plea deal.

Did Agent Haddad explicitly tell you

to chase down Raymond Clark?

No, he didn't have to.

Did you follow Raymond Clark,

whom you loved like your own brother,

into the subway,

push him from behind with the intent to kill him?

Yes.

And I'm so sorry.

I have nothing else.

May I, Your Honor?

Would any of this have happened

were it not for the actions of Agent Haddad?

No.

He left me no choice.

We targeted Noah Turan through an operation

called Lure and Trap.

And how does that work typically?

It's a type of sting operation.

We identify individuals who are susceptible

to extremist ideology, pose as radicals,

fundamentalists, and create scenarios

to determine whether or not they're a threat

to public safety and national security.

And Noah Turan fit that bill?

Terrorist groups believe men like Turan

are especially good recruits because they are U.S. citizens,

so they can fly under the radar.

And many of them feel hopeless, rootless,

eager to join a movement.

Most people in our country

have never heard of Uyghur Muslims.

Are they really so dangerous?

The vast majority are not.

And they are, in fact, persecuted.

But some have radicalized.

Some have traveled to Syria, Afghanistan,

trained with the Taliban, with al-Qaeda.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

Your witness, Mr. Price.

If you are conducting a Lure and Trap operation

and you determine that a target

is not a threat to public safety, what happens?

The investigation doesn't move forward.

So we can assume that

because your investigation of Noah Turan was moving forward,

you believed he posed a threat to public safety?

I believed he was capable of committing an act of terrorism.

Provided you radicalized him

and taught him how to build a bomb.

Objection. Counsel is testifying.

Ask a question, Mr. Price.

You have testified...

That when you told Noah Turan

to take care of the problem,

you couldn't possibly have envisioned

that he would then kill Raymond Clark.

Correct? - Correct.

But what I'm failing to grasp is if you were so certain

that Noah Turan was prepared to blow up the Brooklyn Library

full of 1,200 people,

how you could be equally certain

that he would be unwilling to take one more life?

I couldn't have known.

You chose him because you thought he was a killer.

You trained him to be a better killer.

You gave him a cause worth killing for.

A-and when you provoked him, he behaved like a killer.

So it sounds to me like you got what you wanted.

Objection! Your Honor--

Sustained.

Nothing further.

Chief Agent Merrill, how many special agents work at the FBI?

Over 10,000.

And how many of them have been awarded

the FBI's Shield of Bravery, Medal of Valor,

and the Medal for Meritorious Achievement?

About 45.

Is Agent Haddad one of them?

Yes, he is.

As Agent Haddad's supervisor, were you aware of his orders?

I certainly hope so.

Did Agent Haddad follow those orders

in the operation targeting Noah Turan?

To the letter.

He was doing his job, doing it well.

Do your agents prepare for the possibility

of collateral damage?

We're taught that collateral damage

is a necessary consequence of war.

We work hard to keep America safe.

Most of the time, folks don't even know that's happening

because we're pretty good at what we do.

And on occasion, something tragic happens along the way.

No one is happy when an innocent is killed.

But the person who actually caused Raymond Clark's death

is already in prison.

His name is Noah Turan.

In the last year,

how many young men did Agent Haddad approach

through the Lure and Trap program?

216.

And how many of them agreed

to carry out an act of terrorism

to extinguish American lives?

Four. One of them was Noah Turan.

And how many of them killed someone

they thought might interfere with a phony terror event?

One, Noah Turan.

He's the reason Raymond Clark is dead, not Agent Haddad.

Nothing further, Your Honor.

Okay, that's the last of it.

Every official document related to Haddad's operation.

There has to be something in here to help us explain

that Agent Haddad wasn't just doing his job.

Because if not-- - Yeah.

You got to be kidding me.

What?

And who was the judge on that?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I know, Ed.

Hey, listen, I gotta call you back.

Okay.

You were the architect of the FBI's Lure and Trap Program?

I wouldn't go that far.

But yes, I was on loan to the FBI.

They wanted me to help out with it.

After 9/11, we needed to find more efficient ways

of locating and interrogating suspects.

That's one way to describe it.

My job was to help make the Lure and Trap Program legal.

Good.

Then I need you to testify.

Testify?

Yeah, you're in a unique position to prove

that Agent Haddad went beyond

the limits of his job and the law.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

You know Haddad didn't do this by the book.

Because you wrote the book!

I wanna win here no different than you.

But if I'm gonna be honest,

now that I am the DA, I don't need the world to know

that I was involved with--

Some tactics employed in the aftermath of 9/11

don't necessarily look the same through the lens of 2025.

Um...

I will sleep well tonight

knowing that I am trying like hell

to get justice for Raymond Clark.

In the morning,

you will need to tell me where you come down on that.

You may proceed, Mr. Price.

Could you describe this document for the jury?

It's a 2006 memorandum

prepared by the legal advisory office

for the Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Prepared by you, correct?

Yes.

Establishing a program to locate extremists

who could threaten our national security.

We called it Lure and Trap.

So this memo established the guidelines

for this FBI operation and its guardrails,

or the rules, you could say.

You could.

Is that a yes?

Yes.

The rules, so that FBI agents like Agent Haddad

could hunt online for men like Noah Turan,

radicalize them, and then hold them to account

without those agents

committing a crime in the process, correct?

Correct.

You have had the opportunity to review the testimony

of Haddad and Chief Agent Merrill

as well as documents related to the operation

targeting Turan, yes? - I have.

Can you tell the jury what you learned?

There were instances in which Agent Haddad

exceeded the legal limitations I delineated.

Objection.

Overruled.

As the author of this memo...

when agents target a subject through Lure and Trap,

are they required to submit regular FD-302 forms

to their supervisor to summarize

and report their actions?

Yes.

Haddad failed to do so.

Would that represent a violation of the rules?

Yes.

Could you tell the jury if an FBI agent is allowed

to threaten a subject's family

in order to coerce that subject into committing a crime?

No, that is not permitted.

So as the author of Lure and Trap,

did Haddad operate within the bounds

of the guidelines you created?

No.

Was Agent Haddad simply doing his job

in the course of his operation targeting Noah Turan?

No, he went far beyond

the legal boundaries of his mission.

Objection!

Sustained.

Which means Raymond Clark

would still be alive today were it not for the reckless,

rogue actions... - Objection, Your Honor!

- Of Agent Haddad. - Sustained.

Isn't that right? - Mr. Price.

I have nothing further.

The notion of collateral damage

is real in war.

But we were not at war with Noah Turan.

Agent Haddad simply chose him

and then embarked on a relentless campaign

to change him, manipulate him, radicalize him.

District Attorney Baxter's memo authorizing Lure and Trap

was a tacit acknowledgment the government knew

they were pushing things as far as they could,

so they created guidelines

and rules to legitimize the aggressive tactics.

Agent Haddad did not abide by those guidelines and rules.

No, he ignored them.

And his callous and reckless disregard

for those guidelines and rules

resulted in Raymond Clark's death.

It is really that simple.

And for that reason,

you must convict him of manslaughter.

Madam Foreperson, has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

In the charge of manslaughter in the second degree,

we find the defendant, Joshua Omar Haddad,

guilty.

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

we thank you for your service.

You're excused.

Heck of a closing.

I was trying to make it clear.

You were trying to win your case.

Which I respect.

People like you feel entitled to criticize

what we did after 9/11...

accuse us of stretching the limits of the law.

But the reason they feel so entitled

is because it hasn't happened since.

No more buildings have come down in this city.

You don't have to like what we did.

But it worked.

We saved lives.