'The Newburgh Sting' on HBO

You may recall the widely publicized, dramatic arrest of four African Americans on May 20, 2009, charged with planning to bomb the Riverdale Jewish Center as well as Stewart Air National Guard base. These alleged Muslim terrorists, famously called “The Newburgh Four,” were tried and convicted, and are currently serving 25-year prison sentences.

But according to filmmakers Kate Davis and David Heilbroner, they were not terrorists — they were entrapped. In a meticulously researched, brilliantly edited, hard-hitting 90-minute exposé, this documentary takes you through the shocking story of how the FBI carefully plotted to recruit and train these four unwitting men to make these attacks and then turned around and made a dramatic arrest that was publicized worldwide.

The filmmakers show clips from over 100 hours of FBI hidden camera footage, making it clear how the bureau planned and staged the sting, plus interviews with Muslim leaders, former FBI officials, and family members of the Newburgh Four. The FBI’s plot surpasses any of the recent fictionalized terrorist thrillers that have held this traumatized country in its thrall since 9/11 because it’s true.

According to the documentary, in 2008 the FBI sent an undercover agent named Shahed Hussain to Newburgh, New York, a city 60 miles north of Manhattan, to recruit this unlikely team. Newburgh, a largely poor African-American community plagued with unemployment and drug dealing, has a local mosque, and the FBI footage shows Hussain hanging around it, looking for recruits. Posing as a wealthy Pakistani businessman who wanted to make “jihad,” Hussain lures David Cromitie, an occasional attendee, with the promise of $250,000, cars, and a safe getaway if he will also recruit three more participants. (“Just make sure they are Muslims,” Hussain specifies). Cromitie, who had served time in prison for drug-dealing and was unemployed at the time, eventually recruited David Williams, Onta Williams, and Laguerre Payen with Hussain’s promise of three weeks of employment, a share of the $250,000, and only a nebulous mention of unspecified Jihadist activity.

Hussain worked closely with the four, befriending them, reassuring them with promises, and sending them to Florida for training. Then on the eve of the “attack,” he drove them to Connecticut to pick up explosives to blow up the synagogue and Stinger missiles to fire at National Guard airplanes.

SWAT teams and live TV coverage

The dramatic arrest in front of the synagogue as the armed SUV arrived to execute the plot was carefully planned by the FBI as well, complete with armored cars, a SWAT team, and aircraft, plus live coverage on all TV channels. Government officials hailed the arrests as a victory in the war on terror. As one of the former FBI officials remarked in a retrospective interview: “This was pure theater.”

Incredibly, the FBI footage that clearly documents the entrapment, made public (by law) during the jury trial, had no impact on the outcome. These four now languish in prison, and their case has lost an appeal. It now awaits possible judgment by the Supreme Court.

“Once you see something like this, you can’t unsee it,” remarks one of the Newburgh Four defense attorneys, speaking of the tapes. Clearly, the unsuspecting suspects (all of whom were uneducated and unemployed, and one of whom was identified as mentally challenged) had no idea of the scope or meaning of their assignment. The moving interviews with family members underscore the human tragedy. “You’re the terrorist!” David Williams’s mother accuses the U.S. government, in defense of her son who had, like the other defendants, no record of violent behavior.

“Whom do you turn to when your government turns against you?” asks Williams’s aunt. As this provocative documentary suggests, the larger tragedy concerns us all — namely, that our government could be capable of such actions. The detail and expense invested in this FBI-orchestrated plot — including drones employed to follow and videotape the SUV that went to Connecticut and back on the evening before the “attack” — is mind-boggling. (Defense attorneys explain that the FBI deliberately planned this excursion, since crossing a state line would be a federal offense punishable by a mandatory 25-year prison sentence.)

Davis and Heilbroner explore the possible reasons why the FBI has gone so far astray in our nation’s war on terrorism. In one interview, Mike German, a 12-year ex-FBI veteran, attributes it to post 9/11 paranoia, recalling how, after the Twin Towers fell, traumatized bureau agents were walking down the halls, saying, “The rules don’t apply anymore. The rules are off.” (German’s reply: “What rules are you talking about? The Constitution?”) Other FBI interviewees talk about the bureau’s determination to “keep the fear alive.” A third explanation points to the positive press and praise that the FBI received following the arrest and conviction of the Newburgh Four. A fourth, more nefarious, explanation is that the FBI needed these successful arrests to justify its ongoing budget requests.

Davis and Heilbroner are dedicated and distinguished documentary filmmakers (their HBO credits include the Emmy-nominated Southern Comfort in 2002 and Emmy-winning Jockey in 2004). They approach each of their widely varied topics with skill, responsibility, and insight. In a post-screening discussion I attended, they spoke of publicizing their film widely over the next year, hoping to influence Congress to change the entrapment laws before the Newburgh Four case is heard before the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the unsettling words of one Newburgh resident echo in our ears. Speaking of life on the streets of Newburgh, he remarked: “Ain’t no gang like the government!”