WEBVTT - S2 E8: Bigger Than 9/11 0:00:01.880 --> 0:00:05.480 You're listening to Law and Order Criminal Justice System, a 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:08.959 production of Wolf Entertainment and iHeart podcasts. 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.520 In the criminal justice system, landmark trials transcend the courtroom 0:00:16.600 --> 0:00:19.960 to reshape the law. The brave many women who investigate 0:00:20.000 --> 0:00:22.880 and prosecute these cases are part of a select group 0:00:22.960 --> 0:00:31.680 that is defined American history. These are their stories. September eleventh, 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:35.680 two thousand and one, New York City. 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:40.000 It started as a beautiful fall morning, crisp air and 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:44.400 bright blue sky. People grab coffee, caught subways and ported 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:49.519 to offices. Then a jetliner slammed into the North tower 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:54.160 of the World Trade Center. It appeared to back sharply 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:59.840 and smash directly, perhaps purposefully, into a. 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:02.800 On the thirty sixth floor, facing west. And I had 0:01:02.840 --> 0:01:05.720 just commuted through the Trade Center, and I saw the 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:09.760 side of the north tower explode, and I instinctively yelled, 0:01:09.800 --> 0:01:12.880 and I got a bomb as I saw papers floating 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:16.000 in the air and fire ripping through the building, and 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:19.119 it looked to me like a giant air conditioner kind 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:21.560 of tumble out of the side of the building. When 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:24.280 I yelled bomb, my friend said, no plane hit it, 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.160 But I didn't see the plane from the angle I was, 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.120 but I saw the explosion and hre like, oh my god, 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:33.040 it's a perfect day out. How could that be a plane. 0:01:33.400 --> 0:01:36.200 Seventeen minutes later, a second plane hit. 0:01:37.440 --> 0:01:40.240 Oh, oh my goodness, there's another one. Seems to be 0:01:40.360 --> 0:01:41.039 on purpose. 0:01:41.280 --> 0:01:42.120 Oh my goodness. 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:42.720 Now you lean. 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:44.440 Now it's obvious. 0:01:44.560 --> 0:01:48.240 I think that there's a second plane just crashed into 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:50.960 the World Trade Center. And then I saw the South 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.640 tower explode. So I got the hell out of the building, 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.320 you know. I knew that it was a terror attack, 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:58.680 and I didn't want to be killed. 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.360 At the Pentagon, flames rose from a gaping hole in 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:08.200 its western wall. In Pennsylvania, a fourth plane crashed into 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.440 a field after passengers fought back. 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:14.760 It is absolutely an appalling day, not only here in Manhattan, 0:02:14.760 --> 0:02:19.080 but also in Washington, where the Pentagon also was apparently 0:02:19.120 --> 0:02:22.040 the subject of a strike by one of these hijacked 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:23.679 airliners flying bombs. 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:29.480 Sirens wailed across Lower Manhattan. Crowds ran as the towers fell, 0:02:30.040 --> 0:02:32.240 ash and paper drifted from the sky. 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:34.560 I saw the building. 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:37.320 Say that again, I didn't hear you. 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:41.840 That's the building just coming down. By the end of 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:46.120 the morning, thousands were dead, and for families across New 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:51.520 York and far beyond. The grief was overwhelming. Joe Connor 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:55.200 was among them. His cousin Steve, worked in the towers. 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.000 We went into the Saint Patrick's Churches, a little church 0:02:59.080 --> 0:03:01.400 down in like China Town, and I came out of 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:04.919 there and the smoke was around them. They had collapsed. Actually, 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:06.840 while we were in the church saying at prayer, I 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:07.919 knew Steve wasn't. 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:11.960 Come at home. In the middle of that devastation. Joe 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:16.720 also recognized the fragile line between life and death. People 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:20.079 within feet of each other were only mere blocks. Some 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:24.560 survived and others did not. But the attacks left another 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:28.519 truth as well. Even with its many safeguards in place, 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:33.399 law enforcement hadn't seen this coming incomprehensible. 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:36.160 We plan for all kinds of terrorist. 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:42.760 Attacks, a biological warfare, chemical warfare, but nobody envisioned to 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:45.400 commercial airlines slamming into the World Trade Center. 0:03:46.440 --> 0:03:50.680 It was the single deadliest terrorist attack ever in the world, 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:55.600 and in the days that followed, leaders vowed change. 0:03:55.880 --> 0:03:59.240 This is a vicious attack upon New York, It's an 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:02.800 attack upon America. It's an attack upon the whole concept 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:05.560 of freedom in our way of life. And we cannot 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:07.440 let these attacks succeed. 0:04:08.840 --> 0:04:12.120 The mission was clear, never again. 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.680 I got a call, get out to LaGuardia Airport. There's 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:25.280 been a bombing. 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:27.520 There was a thirty two foot crater in front of 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:29.240 what was left of the building. I was trying to 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:32.120 figure out, Am I dead? Am I alive? Where am I? 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:33.640 I'm Aniseega NICOLASI. 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.960 That's why terrorism works. It doesn't care who you are. 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:42.720 From Wolf Entertainment and iHeart podcasts, this is law and order, 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:53.200 criminal justice system. The months after the nine to eleven 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:57.799 attacks were marked by thousands of funerals. Nearly three thousand 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:01.000 lives were lost that day, and for almost a year, 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:05.560 recovery teams moved around the clock at ground zero, one 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.960 point eight million tons of rubble were removed in the 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:14.360 search for remains and answers for families, first responders, and 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:18.520 an entire city. Life would never be the same, and 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:23.880 for the country, everything felt different. A sense of safety 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:29.040 had vanished. In response, law enforcement knew they needed to 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:33.400 meet new threats head on. Prevention became the ultimate goal. 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:38.279 The Joint Terrorism Task Force already existed in New York 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:42.159 pre nine to eleven, but after this it was transformed. 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:48.400 Its ranks swelled with agents, detectives, prosecutors, and analysts. The 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:53.320 walls between agencies came down, and the JTTF became a 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:57.119 massive coalition. Here's one of the people who was brought 0:05:57.120 --> 0:05:57.800 into that fight. 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:02.320 My name is Robert As. I was investigator for the 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:05.120 New York Joint Terrorism Task Force and I was an 0:06:05.160 --> 0:06:07.280 investigator for the threat Squad. 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:11.200 Robert was part of the Brooklyn DA's office, but his 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:15.360 path changed course when the FBI came looking for reinforcements. 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:20.000 I went over to the JGTF in two thousand and three. 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.000 I was working in a threat squad, and at that point, 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.680 even two years after nine to eleven, we had thousands 0:06:25.680 --> 0:06:27.640 and thousands of leads that we were just running down 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:31.000 from a call center that came from calls from the public. 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:35.240 Most of those tips led nowhere, But one night in 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:39.360 early two thousand and six, Robert got something that felt different. 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:42.360 I was working the four twelve shift and it was 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:44.440 kind of late at night, and I got the lead. 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.880 The details were thin, but the subject was alarming. 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.400 This individual that was from Brooklyn but was down in Guyana, 0:06:53.440 --> 0:06:56.960 South America, was talking about blowing up the pipelines. That 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:58.960 led to the fuel tanks a chafcreport. 0:07:00.120 --> 0:07:03.040 The first step was to look into the person purportedly 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:05.880 making the threats to help assess if it was real 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:06.839 or just talk. 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:10.840 Subsequently, we did some background checks on the person that 0:07:11.080 --> 0:07:14.960 supposedly was making the threats. Russell defriedis the fact that 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:17.680 the person worked at JFK can keep it a little 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:18.280 more validity. 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:23.440 What began as a vague tip suddenly felt legitimate. It 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:27.560 meant to FreeDOS knew the airport, its routines, and its vulnerabilities, 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:32.080 and that made his threat far harder to dismiss. This 0:07:32.320 --> 0:07:37.560 was now aunofficial investigation. A potential plan to blow up 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:42.280 pipelines at JFK Airport quickly got the attention of other agencies. 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:47.360 My name is Marshall Lee Miller, and I worked for 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:50.520 many years at the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern 0:07:50.560 --> 0:07:51.800 District of New York. 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.480 The Joint Terrorism Task Force was built on the concept 0:07:56.520 --> 0:08:01.640 of partnership. From the beginning, prosecutors were looped in navigating 0:08:01.680 --> 0:08:04.840 the legal side, working alongside investigators. 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:07.880 The US Attorney's offices, both in the Eastern and the 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:12.160 Southern District of New York were embedded essentially in the JTTFS. 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:16.960 We had investigators that worked with their colleagues at the JTTF, 0:08:17.360 --> 0:08:22.160 and prosecutors were there regularly working through cases and doing 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:26.120 intake of cases and discussing how to assign cases and 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:28.800 how to divide cases between the Eastern and southern districts 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:29.280 of New York. 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:34.280 In every case, the stakes were the same. Public safety 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:36.000 was number one. 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:39.320 Job Number one for the Joint Terrorism Task Force and 0:08:39.400 --> 0:08:42.920 all of its members is making sure that there is 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:47.160 no terrorist attack. So one of the first orders of 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:51.640 business was to try to figure out how real this 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:53.679 potential plot was. 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:58.240 The question was how to get close enough to find out. 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.440 Really early stage, One of the first things that was 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:06.840 done was to look to see whether there was a 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:11.880 source of information working with law enforcement that had any 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:16.839 kind of connectivity to Russell Defriedis, the individual that had 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.880 been identified by that incoming tip. 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:25.480 Law enforcement began piecing together Defritas's background, and. 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:29.199 It quickly became apparent that mister Defritis was a naturalized 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.480 US citizen from Guyana and that he had worked as 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:36.240 a baggage handler at John F. Kennedy International Airport in 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:37.400 years past. 0:09:38.400 --> 0:09:40.880 But knowing his backstory wasn't enough. 0:09:42.080 --> 0:09:46.200 In all of these investigations, all of the players involved 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.920 are always worrying about whether they are seeing the whole 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.280 picture or whether you're only seeing part of the picture. 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.480 And like an iceberg below the waterline, there's some much 0:09:55.520 --> 0:09:59.960 bigger thing happening with activity that's outside of your site 0:10:00.080 --> 0:10:04.359 line that might result in an attack while you're investigating. 0:10:06.360 --> 0:10:09.880 Our first investigative step would be to verify the information 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:12.199 that we had to see if this person was talking 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:15.440 about blowing up the pipelines, the goal would be to 0:10:15.480 --> 0:10:19.920 get an informant to meet mister Defriedis and to have 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.440 that same conversation with them again to see if it 0:10:22.520 --> 0:10:23.000 is valid. 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:26.760 They couldn't send just anyone into talk to the Friedas 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:31.960 whoever went in had to be credible and cautious. Agents 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.560 spent weeks coming through files looking for someone who could 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:37.920 naturally slip into de Freedis's orbit. 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:42.160 We were looking through the FBI database for different reports 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:46.480 of interviews and different information about FBI informants throughout the country. 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.360 It would be days and weeks of just reading reports 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:52.280 of different FBI informants, and not just for terrorists, about 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:54.679 the criminal informants, just to find the right fit. So 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:58.120 we came across an individual that had some ties to 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.760 a local mosque in Brooklyn that mister Defritas also had 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:02.200 ties to. 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:06.600 For law enforcement, the decision to use an informant is 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:11.880 really an easy one. Credibility and reliability are always an issue, 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.800 but if their information can be corroborated, it can sometimes 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:17.320 be worth its weight in gold. 0:11:18.559 --> 0:11:22.000 And so the next step was for the source that 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:27.719 was identified who had acquaintances and friends in common with 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:32.040 mister Defritis. That's when he was identified and brought in 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:36.560 to speak with investigators and then sent to places that 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:40.640 were where mister Defritis was known to frequent based on 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:43.959 some initial surveillance, so that they could bump into each 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:47.280 other in as natural way as possible, and the intent 0:11:47.320 --> 0:11:49.680 would be for them to strike up a conversation and 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:54.760 see whether mister Defritis would ultimately open up to the source. 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.640 With the plan in place, the case shifted. Here's former 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:01.920 FBI Special Agent Kim Widow. 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.040 My role was the source handler. That was a full 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:11.679 time job and tires why because during the day we 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.839 were riding up the reports that he was providing us, 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:18.880 we were listening to the recordings that were being made 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.240 in his truck that he was getting when he was 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:25.720 sitting in a cafe with the Fritis or just running around. 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:30.560 We were getting the permissions for him to conduct consential monitoring, 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:34.480 to fly to Guyana, meeting with him to debrief him, 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.000 and late night phone calls. 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.960 Kim recalls the background of the man they chose. 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:45.959 Our source had just gotten out of federal prison and 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:51.600 had converted to Islam in prison, so he was able 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:55.839 to move in a variety of different groups within New York. 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:59.839 There are two different sects of Islam, Sunni and she, 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:04.800 and being a new convert, he was able to explore 0:13:04.880 --> 0:13:08.000 both of them without raising any type of suspicion. And 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:10.319 they found out that they knew some folks in common 0:13:10.800 --> 0:13:15.120 that gave our source an inn and some bona fides 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:16.520 with the Fretis. 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:20.240 To protect his identity, he would be known by a 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:20.960 single name. 0:13:22.040 --> 0:13:24.480 What he was known as in the plot was honest, 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:26.440 so we'll call him honest. 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:32.760 In reality. Most cooperators don't come forward out of civic duty. 0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:36.320 More often they are driven by self interest, like resolving 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:39.960 their own charges or for money, and a NASA agreed 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:42.359 to cooperate was no different. 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:47.200 In this matter. This source was out on bail and 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:50.920 had a pending sentencing that needed to take place, and 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:55.679 so he was cooperating largely because he was hoping for 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:59.040 a reduced sentence in exchange for his cooperation. 0:14:00.200 --> 0:14:02.600 To be his full time job. And to that end, 0:14:02.640 --> 0:14:06.400 we were going to provide him with a stipend that 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:10.160 would enable him to pay rent on a very modest 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:13.720 place in New York City and to have a vehicle. Also, 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:17.000 as we got to know this individual, he was a 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.080 very I don't want to say patriotic, but New York 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:23.520 City was his city and he didn't want anybody to 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:26.840 do another nine to eleven type attack. He didn't want 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.000 his friends and family to be subject to that in 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.320 New York City. So it was a combination of all 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:36.520 of those things that motivated him. 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:40.120 A NAS had another quality that made him stand out 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:42.280 his ability to blend in. 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:48.320 We found somebody who was very charismatic, very able to 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:53.080 adapt to all kinds of different situations, and who was 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:57.360 very street smart. So this was somebody that we had 0:14:57.720 --> 0:15:02.880 lucked into that could move in various different circles and 0:15:03.560 --> 0:15:07.680 be a chameleon and do whatever the situation required him 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:11.600 to do. He had survived in a bad neighborhood and 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:16.560 associations with drug dealing organizations before he went to prison 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:20.640 the last time, and just had a ton of street smarts. 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:24.520 The mission for a noose was clear. Get close to 0:15:24.600 --> 0:15:28.520 Russell Defriedis and find out whether his talk of blowing 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:33.160 up JFK was just words or an actual plan. 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:39.040 If he actually potentially could come up with an operational plot, 0:15:39.160 --> 0:15:42.840 or if he has contacts with somebody who could come 0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:48.160 up with a real plan against either JFK or any 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:49.520 other target in New York City. 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:55.600 A successful strike could ripple through national security and global travel. 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:01.320 It is one of the biggest airports in the particularly 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:07.480 for international flights. The sheer physical size of JFK Airport 0:16:08.000 --> 0:16:13.400 is huge. It has multiple terminals, hundreds of flights coming 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:18.920 in every hour departing, and there is a large support 0:16:19.000 --> 0:16:25.360 operation there. The mail from overseas comes in cargo. Pretty 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:27.920 much any and everything you can think of that comes 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:32.080 into the United States can come in through JFK Airport. 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:37.880 It's also located in Queens, in an area right off 0:16:37.960 --> 0:16:42.600 of a very busy interstate. It's in a high density 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:48.600 neighborhood and on the edge of JFK right before you 0:16:49.000 --> 0:16:51.840 leave the premises and go into one of these high 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:57.680 density neighborhoods, there's tanks and tanks of aviation fuel for 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:01.400 refueling all of the air line traffic that comes in 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:06.120 and out of JFK, and that was where the focus 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:10.680 was of this JFK plot was on those fuel storage 0:17:10.720 --> 0:17:15.320 tanks and the line that came in through queens that 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.520 brought the fuel into those tanks for the airplanes going 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:19.520 in and out of JFK. 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:24.399 And NAS would need to get close to Russell Defrieda's 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:27.840 and it wouldn't be easy. It was a balancing act 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.600 for law enforcement as well. 0:17:30.720 --> 0:17:34.159 We have to walk a thin line between putting a 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:39.280 human source into an investigation and making sure that they 0:17:39.320 --> 0:17:43.720 don't entrap a subject. So at the beginning, we really 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:47.840 didn't tell the source anything more than just hey, here's 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.840 where this sky's going to be, go meeting, go tell 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:52.560 us about him. 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:55.479 And NAS had to figure out where Defridis went and 0:17:55.520 --> 0:17:59.120 how he spent his time and then try to naturally 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:02.399 cross his path, and the FBI would help. 0:18:03.640 --> 0:18:08.520 We have to use least intrusive investigative means, and one 0:18:08.560 --> 0:18:13.000 of the least intrusive means is just physical surveillance, just 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:17.000 following somebody around, and the case squad had followed the 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:21.680 FreeDOS around found out that he was selling some goods 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:25.200 at Gertz Plaza mall in Queen's. 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:30.000 That gave a nosin opening when we knew. 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:33.840 What his routine was. You just have the source bump 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:37.760 into them. So he was able to offer to freed 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:40.280 Us a ride to Freedis didn't have a car, so 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:43.680 that was one of the early things, just driving him 0:18:43.840 --> 0:18:46.160 to wherever he needed to go and chatting. 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:48.879 Their relationship grew quickly. 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:52.360 They went out for meals a lot of the time. 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.679 Da Freedis didn't have a lot of money, so he 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:58.640 liked the fact that our source was paying for meals. 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:02.360 After they got out and run a few errands, and 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.719 he just kind of began to rely on the source 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:12.200 as his assistant, his helper, his confidant, and that relationship 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:17.879 just developed as they worked together and broke bread together. 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.119 Those small favors soon turned into trust. 0:19:23.240 --> 0:19:28.200 At first, we weren't recording the conversations because consentual monitoring 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:31.760 has to have certain approvals. We had to get the 0:19:32.200 --> 0:19:35.119 AUSA on board for that. We had to get FBI 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:39.679 management on board to send him out with recording devices. 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:43.160 So we had to make sure that he really was 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:47.480 talking about committing an act of violence before we could 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:51.439 do that. And it was pretty quick for Defreedos to 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.520 bring him into confidence on the fact that he wanted 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:55.760 to do something. 0:19:56.640 --> 0:20:00.280 And from there law enforcement sprang into action. 0:20:01.440 --> 0:20:05.359 We were able to wire up the source and listen 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:06.600 to the conversations. 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:12.439 The surveillance then widened, phone calls, in person meetings, and 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:17.919 every conversation in between. The rhetoric wasn't just casual bluster. 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:21.840 When Russell Lfriedez talked about the plot, he just had 0:20:21.880 --> 0:20:24.879 this passion in his voice that gave you chills that 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:27.760 he really wanted to do something. He just had this hatred. 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:33.080 Defriedis's motives were tangled. It was a shifting mix of 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:34.840 grievances and ambition. 0:20:36.000 --> 0:20:40.480 I certainly think a primary motivation was the view that 0:20:41.000 --> 0:20:43.720 there was a conflict going on between the United States 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:49.080 and other allies of the United States, Israel, Europe, other places, 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:52.439 and the Muslim world, and that this would be something 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:55.840 sort of a geehad that mister de Friedez could engage 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:59.240 in as part of doing his part in that conflict. 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:02.600 There were also more personal dimensions. 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:06.679 At times he would gripe about the way he was 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:10.439 treated as an African American and as a Muslim at 0:21:10.480 --> 0:21:12.760 the airport by people when he worked there. 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:17.080 And sometimes his ambitions veered more towards greed. 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:20.199 There were moments where there was talk about whether they 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:23.520 could sell the idea and make some money off it, 0:21:23.560 --> 0:21:28.200 as well to different higher level and more well trained 0:21:28.560 --> 0:21:32.360 terrorist actors and groups, groups like Al Qaeda, the Iranian 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:37.760 Revolutionary Guard Corps or IERGC terrorist group in Trinidad known 0:21:37.800 --> 0:21:38.560 as Jamatt al. 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:45.119 Muslimin Investigators also realized that Defridis was searching for significance, 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:49.320 a way to turn his anger into action, and before 0:21:49.440 --> 0:21:53.760 long his talks with Anas veered into specific schemes. 0:21:54.880 --> 0:21:56.680 Once he started opening up a little bit, it happened 0:21:57.000 --> 0:21:59.680 fairly quickly where he started talking about the JFK PLUT. 0:22:00.600 --> 0:22:05.439 What came next erased any doubt. This was a plan 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:08.360 for mass destruction and there. 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:10.440 Would be something that was bigger than nine to eleven. 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:25.200 By the spring of two thousand and six, FBI informant 0:22:25.400 --> 0:22:29.439 Anas had become a confidant of Russell Defriedis, who was 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:34.280 threatening a large scale terrorist attack and once Defrieda's trusted Anas, 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:35.879 he talked a lot. 0:22:37.160 --> 0:22:41.480 He felt very comfortable, very quickly opening up that, hey, 0:22:41.960 --> 0:22:45.200 it would be easy to attack that fuel farm out 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:50.159 at JFK, and JFK is a huge airport. I believe 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:54.360 one of his quotes was, it's named after President Kennedy, 0:22:54.560 --> 0:22:56.600 and if you could blow up the airport, it would 0:22:56.600 --> 0:22:59.640 be like killing the man twice. He wanted to make 0:23:00.119 --> 0:23:04.760 a very big splash his budding career is a want 0:23:04.760 --> 0:23:05.760 to be terrorist. 0:23:06.720 --> 0:23:09.480 And Nas quickly became the one Deafriedis leaned on. 0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:14.760 Defridis didn't seem to have any other very close acquaintances 0:23:15.240 --> 0:23:18.840 in New York, so he latched onto the source fairly 0:23:18.960 --> 0:23:22.439 quickly and started bringing him into the plot. 0:23:23.640 --> 0:23:27.120 The scope of the case soon expanded beyond New York. 0:23:28.160 --> 0:23:32.119 It became quite clear quite quickly that mister Defritis was 0:23:32.520 --> 0:23:36.919 actively considering engaging in terrorist activity, and that he was 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:39.760 reaching out to and was already in contact with a 0:23:39.880 --> 0:23:45.000 number of potential co conspirators overseas in Trinidad and Guyana. 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:48.399 I believe he also told the source at one time 0:23:48.720 --> 0:23:52.240 that it was the Middle Eastern Muslims that were getting 0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:58.119 all of the credit for defending their religion against the 0:23:58.160 --> 0:24:02.880 American oppressors, and there were plenty of folks down in 0:24:02.920 --> 0:24:06.160 Guyana and in the Caribbean who were willing to take 0:24:06.240 --> 0:24:09.240 up arms for the cause as well. In a matter 0:24:09.280 --> 0:24:11.880 of months, he was suggesting that they take a trip 0:24:11.920 --> 0:24:15.480 down to Guyana to meet these folks and to try 0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:16.879 to get some help for the plot. 0:24:17.680 --> 0:24:20.920 And that's when he came across Abdul Kadir in Guyana. 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:23.960 He pitched the idea to Abdul Kadir, and Abdul Kadir 0:24:24.000 --> 0:24:24.879 took an interest. 0:24:24.600 --> 0:24:28.000 In the plot, and Kadir was well connected. 0:24:29.040 --> 0:24:31.760 Abdulkadir was involved in the government in Guyana. He was 0:24:31.800 --> 0:24:34.359 in the parliament and he was the mayor of this 0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:38.120 town of Lynden, Guyana. It's also ran a mosque in Guyana. 0:24:39.200 --> 0:24:42.080 Kadir's connections made the plot more viable. 0:24:43.080 --> 0:24:44.920 A lot of the conversations had to do with the 0:24:44.920 --> 0:24:48.679 funding of it in Abdul Kadir's contacts. Abdul Kadir had 0:24:48.680 --> 0:24:51.400 contacts in Iran, and that was something that we were 0:24:51.480 --> 0:24:52.600 very concerned about. 0:24:53.600 --> 0:24:56.680 The investigation had reached a turning point. 0:24:57.359 --> 0:24:59.480 To us, it appeared they start to have the means 0:24:59.480 --> 0:25:03.200 of inducting an operation. They had an individual that, according 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:05.840 to him, he had access to funds, to weapons, and 0:25:06.240 --> 0:25:09.320 access to individuals outside of our country and of Guyana 0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:10.960 that could possibly help with this plot. 0:25:12.080 --> 0:25:14.600 And Kadir wasn't the only new name. 0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:18.960 So at that point, Kadeer introduced the Friedas and the 0:25:19.000 --> 0:25:22.800 Nas to some contacts in Trinidad. So they went to 0:25:22.800 --> 0:25:26.600