NARRATOR: In the criminal justice system,
sexually based offenses are considered especially heinous,
In New York City,
the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies
are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit,
These are their stories,
Thanks for a great night. Hope I see you soon.
Thank you.
(SCREAMS)
That's for holding out on me.
I didn't, T-Mac, I swear. I...
(GASPS)
$70? Ride like that is worth at least a buck fifty.
He was a cheap bastard, daddy.
And you're a liar. Where's the rest of that money?
Get back here! Get back here!
(CRYlNG) I'm sorry! Okay?
I'm sorry, T-Mac. Don't, please! I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
(GRUNTS)
(GASPS)
Oh, my God. It's a little girl.
Come on.
(SCREAMS) No!
Audrina? It's Fin.
Thanks for coming.
I thought you got out of the game.
Yeah, I tried. But the shelter was beat, and the GED class sucked,
and my daddy promised he'd be nice to me.
Looks like he didn't keep his promise.
It only hurts a little.
But that's not why I called you. She's over there.
T-Mac do this?
No. No, she's not one of his girls.
We just kind of tripped over her.
Why call me, not 911?
The cops don't give a damn about another dead ho.
But I knew you'd care.
This kid's way too young to be in the life.
You're probably right.
She wouldn't get a john wearing that T-shirt.
(FlN READlNG)
Somebody else sure didn't.
She's been dead about 12 hours.
COD is ligature strangulation.
Weapon was a heavy open-link chain.
I can see the pattern in the bruises.
All cleaned up, she looks much younger.
She's 1 2.
You run a bone scan?
No. Her mom filed a missing persons report last night.
Her name's Ruby Brown.
She's a seventh grader at Our Lady of Perpetual Virtue.
Is there any chance Ruby had a secret life
her mother knew nothing about?
Well, if she did, it wasn't turning tricks. Her hymen's intact.
How does a Catholic schoolgirl end up dead on a hooker stroll?
Isn't that a question for Homicide?
It's not a sex crime, Fin.
She looks like a special victim to me.
Give me the mother's address. I'll go tell her myself.
I can do 10 in a row, My coach says now I can compete,
If I win a medal, I'll send it to you, Bye, Daddy, I love you,
She made that for him last week.
Her father is stationed in Kabul.
Every night, I pray to God to keep him safe.
(SlGHS) This is my fault.
No. You can't blame yourself.
I sent Ruby to the store to get some milk.
She'd done it a hundred times.
Was she...
No, no. She wasn't touched.
Why did this happen to my baby?
I'm going to find out.
Ta-da!
CRAGEN: Ruby Brown is not our case,
Captain, she was just a little kid.
Her death was not sexually motivated, and there was no child abuse.
So, type up what you've done and get the file over to Homicide.
Where it will just sit. No witnesses, no leads. The case will die.
All the more reason to turf it.
I'm getting killed on our closure rate as it is.
So, our stats are more important than a little girl's life?
Two little girls. An open homicide in the Bronx last month.
Same type chain was used to choke the life out of a 10-year-old.
Magda lbanez. Dumped in a barrel, just like Ruby Brown.
Serial murders of little girls.
You've got to let me work this.
I'll call 1PP, ask them to declare the pattern.
How far did Bronx Homicide get with this case?
Worked it hard. No leads.
Better start from scratch with the victim's parents.
File says they took their daughter back to Honduras for burial.
No plan to come back.
Good luck getting the brass to issue a travel voucher for Central America.
I can't get a damn break.
Anything in the autopsy report that might help?
Perp's Mr. Clean. Leaves no blood or hairs, so no DNA.
Only print is the chain pattern embedded in the victims' flesh.
So, I've got a whole lot of nothing.
Except what you wanted.
It's an official pattern, and you're the assigned detective.
Good luck.
Okay. DCPl needs to draft the press release.
No. No press.
Captain, we've got to go public. A hotline's our best bet.
To panic every parent in town.
Well, what happens when another child...
That's the way 1PP wants it.
So, hit the streets and find yourself a witness.
KWAN: Ruby came in last night to buy milk.
I told her, "Good." That would make her bones grow strong.
Anyone in the store pay the wrong kind of attention to her?
No.
I wish I could help, Detective. She was a sweet girl.
Would you put one of these up?
KWAN: I'll paper the front window with them.
MUNCH: Did you see this girl last night, about 6:30?
(WOMAN DENYlNG lN SPANlSH)
MUNCH: Did you see this girl last night?
MAN: Sorry.
Did you see this girl last night about 6:30 on the way to the store?
Sorry, dude. Good luck.
FlN: Hey, not on the sidewalk!
What, are you a traffic cop now?
Pet peeve.
Along with hundreds of people that don't see nothing and won't say nothing.
Please take a look at this picture.
Did you see this girl last night? No, thanks.
And what's so important in your life
you can't take three seconds to help find a little girl's killer?
It's getting to the end of our shift. You want to pack it in?
We stay until we find a witness.
Did you see this girl last night?
MAN: Sorry.
Anything?
What's less than nothing?
I'm sorry.
That's all we heard today was sorry. "Sorry, I didn't see her."
"Sorry, I can't help you." "Sorry, no speak English."
I'm sick of that word, "sorry."
Aren't you glad you asked?
FlN: We gave out about a hundred flyers.
TV news could reach thousands.
You know, when I was dating that guy at The Ledger,
I got to know this woman on the crime desk. Her name was Nicole Gleason.
1PP said no press.
She's cute. I could introduce you.
I don't need help hooking up.
No. But you are going to need an alibi
if somebody sees you having a drink with a journalist.
All right. Tell her to meet me at the Lenox Lounge at 10:00.
NlCOLE: I'm glad you came to me,
The public has a right to know
when there's a serial killer preying on our daughters.
You'll run the story?
I'll start on the piece tomorrow.
Do it tonight, I bet you could still make the morning edition.
You'll owe me.
That's a debt I'm happy to pay.
You got camera-ready art?
Way ahead of you.
(SCOFFS)
School photos always play great on the front page.
For The Ledger, Thank you.
FlN: "Krazy for Koko"?
You've got to be kidding me.
Page 17.
It had to be done.
When the Chief of D's gives an order, we follow it.
Unless Liv or Elliot bends the rules.
Then you're out on a limb with them.
You disobeyed a direct order from your commanding officer.
Only thing I'm sorry about is I didn't get the front page.
Three inches and no photos. If our victim looked like Elizabeth Smart,
we'd have a task force and a million-dollar reward.
This isn't about race.
Sure. You keep telling yourself that.
Where the hell do you think you're going?
What are you going to do? Give me a five-day rip?
Fine. More time to work my case.
You're not suspended, yet. Your little stunt gave us our best lead.
Two callers from Ruby's neighborhood
gave up a supermarket delivery boy who likes little girls.
He had a drop-off two blocks from her apartment the night she was killed.
Here you go. Cherry's my favorite. What's yours?
I prefer grape.
Hey! Let me go!
Shut up. Honey, spit out that nasty lollipop
and tell your mother to keep a better eye on you.
Why are you being mean? What did I do?
We'll talk about that downtown.
But I've got to lock up my bike.
That's coming with us.
Sit down.
I don't want to be here.
That what those little girls said
when you snatched them off the street?
(NERVOUSLY) I want to go home. I live in the Bronx.
That's the same place Magda lived.
So tell me how it went down.
You stuffed those little kids into the box on your bike?
I give them rides. They like it.
But when they don't like it, you wrap this chain around their neck.
Sometimes they don't want to be my friend. But I never hurt no one.
Once they're dead, they don't feel nothing?
I don't understand.
Sure you do. The lollipops, the bike rides...
Shrinks call that grooming behavior. Making children trust you.
Is that how you found Magda and Ruby?
Riding around on your bike job?
I don't know who they are.
Never asked their names? Too busy giving out lollipops.
I give lollipops to my friends.
Except when people don't want to be your friends.
They want to get off your bike.
Then you strangle the life out of them.
I want to go home. I live in the Bronx.
Your friend's been busy. We just found another body.
Scotty Wu. Strangled with a chain. Just 12 years old.
Time of death?
Core temp was down a degree and a half,
so I'd say three hours ago, max.
How long did you have the delivery guy in lock-up?
Six hours.
Looks like he'll be cycling off into the sunset.
Well, I've already signed him up for
our Future Perv of New York club.
Parents come forward yet?
No, a neighbor lD'd him.
Said Mom and Dad work at a food joint downtown.
Looks like you'll be doing the notification.
Lucky me.
MRS. WU: (CRYlNG) Please tell us this is all a dream.
Scotty is supposed to come home
just after school. Scotty liked being outside.
I tell him to make sure he is home before dark.
Did he ever mention anybody suspicious?
Maybe somebody trying to talk to him?
No. Scotty was always careful.
He looked after other kids.
But no one looked after him.
Why? Scotty was our only child.
He was our anchor.
Anchor? What do you mean?
(SPEAKlNG NATlVE LANGUAGE)
She means in our hearts.
The snakehead. He did this.
(SPEAKlNG NATlVE LANGUAGE)
The snakehead? Who's that? The guy that got you into this country?
My wife doesn't know what she is saying.
You still owe him money?
You must go now.
I'm not concerned with your immigration status.
I'm just trying to find out who killed your kid.
No. We should not be talking to you. They tell us not to.
They?
FlN: Center for lmmigrant Services.
You're not in trouble. You don't need a lawyer.
Please. Call Keiko. She is our friend.
The Wus' snakehead was paid every dime he was owed.
I know. I delivered it.
You help the immigrants pay the smugglers?
I made sure they were safe.
Scotty Wu wasn't safe long.
God, it's so terrible. Especially after Ruby and Magda.
MUNCH: You knew the other two?
All three families are ClS clients.
We were helping all three families with naturalization.
Scotty, Magda, Ruby.
So, all three of our victims are anchor babies to undocumented parents.
You call them anchor babies. I call them American citizens.
Either way, they're all connected to this center,
and that's no coincidence.
If the perp has an ax to grind with immigrants,
your program is an easy place to find targets.
We're not exactly popular.
Not a week goes by without somebody calling in a bomb threat,
spray-painting something vile on our front door.
Even worse is the crap that arrives in our mailbox.
Show us.
Looks like a lot of hate.
And fear. And the occasional dog turd.
Can't be fun being on the front lines of the immigration debate.
That's why we stay out of it.
Ignore the politics, try to remind the public
that all the wetbacks and ragheads and FOBs are just like them.
Living, breathing human beings.
Until they end up like Scotty Wu.
We're going to take all these letters and look at them
to see if one of your pen pals is our murderer.
The people that write us the most are his fans.
You watch this racist freak, Gordon Garrison?
Know thine enemy.
And the truth is, tragic as these cases may be,
these poor kids are the only bona fide
American citizens in these families,
Innocent children exploited by their parents
to stay in our country, where they don't belong! (AUDlENCE CHEERlNG)
Do we have to watch the collapse of Western civilization?
It's about to get better. Randall Carver's his guest.
GORDON: ,,,isn't your land, ACLU-loving,
bleeding-heart lawyer, Randall Carver, (AUDlENCE BOOlNG)
Don't forget "cop-hating bottom feeder."
Thank you very much, Thank you, Gordon,
Nice to be here, but you're wrong,
These families are just trying to live the American dream like you and me,
I mean, after all, aren't we all immigrants?
GORDON: My audience is a bunch of honest citizens
tired of having their neighborhoods overrun
by criminals who don't belong in our country in the first place,
RANDALL: Now, that's just,,,
Look, Look, the only criminals I see here are the police,
Yes, the police, who repeatedly look the other way
when it comes to violence committed against immigrants,
You mean illegal aliens,
No, I mean innocent children, Gordon,
How many more of these children have to die
before this so-called Special Victims Unit
takes these murders seriously?
We just took on the case, you idiot.
See? Now, you're yelling at the TV.
That's why I'm asking all fair-minded New Yorkers
to meet me today outside the headquarters of SVU
to demand that the police make the protection
of our children their first priority,
GORDON: No, no, no, no,
(CROWD CLAMORlNG) Dirty immigrants! Go home!
They are home! This country was built by immigrants!
SVU, what do you say? How many kids are going to die today?
SVU, hey, what do you say? How many kids are going to die today?
Hold this. Let's see how far I can kick that bullhorn up his ass.
Don't dirty your shoe, Fin.
Well, well, well. You're the guy in charge of this case.
I'm the guy you need to stay away from.
What, so you can ignore me
the way you've ignored these poor murdered children?
Are you real?
If it wasn't for me, no one would even know about them.
Really? Well, if the big bad NYPD is on the case,
how come the killer hasn't been caught yet?
That's what the good people of this city want to know.
No. No. We want to know why all these illegal aliens are still here.
Hey, will you get... Look at this now.
Roughing people up? You know what? That's police brutality.
Get out of my face, jackhole. Hey...
"Special Violence Unit."
FlN: Randall Carver is a leech.
And you're a police officer.
For how much longer is up to you.
I didn't rough him up.
You saying the camera's lying?
You know what? Give me the rip. I don't care.
I'm going to find this killer before another kid dies.
Fin. MULDREW: No.
No, keep on going, Tutuola. Out the door, on to your next career.
I'm sure you'll enjoy being a mall cop.
Okay, I'm sorry. I lost my cool with Carver, and I shouldn't have.
Now go say it again to that asswad who's making our lives hell.
THAGARD: You're not listening to me!
RANDALL: That's because I'm busy helping people.
THAGARD: Helping people? I'm here to see Randall Carver.
THAGARD: You're ruining America! Gordon Garrison said so!
(RECEPTlONlST GASPS)
Why don't you just get the hell out of here?
How can you defend all these rats and roaches?
Why don't you stand up for Americans once in a while?
Hey!
Okay! Okay! Okay!
Why are you tackling me? He's the one ruining this country.
And Gordon Garrison says...
Gordon Garrison is a Neanderthal.
No. No. Don't you insult him.
He is a great American who is brave enough to speak the truth,
while liberal elites like you try to shut him up.
No, you shut up. I'm a cop. You all right?
I'm fine. We get nuts like him all the time.
Okay, Carver. If you don't know,
this is when you tell me "thank you."
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be
used against you in a court of law.
Mobile News? What, have you got those vultures on speed-dial?
I did not call them.
Yeah, right.
Detective, you don't have to do this.
Don't worry. You can have the spotlight all to yourself.
No, no. I mean arrest him.
I won't be pressing charges against Mr. Thagard.
He's just another misguided Garrison fan.
Who trashed your office and blew out your window.
Well, a broken window's no reason to throw that poor loser in jail.
I get your game, Carver.
Thug attacks, cops are heavy-handed, and you're Mr. Nice Guy.
Whatever. You know, your captain called
to say you were coming here to apologize.
You want to make it straight between you and me? You let him go.
What's going on here, Mr. Carver? More police harassment?
Oh, no! Not at all. For once, the NYPD is doing the right thing.
Isn't that so, Detective Tutuola?
It's your lucky day, pal.
Hi.
(SlGHS)
You're late. The party's over.
Never planned on going.
Giving Randall Carver another 15 minutes of fame doesn't interest me.
Then what are you doing here?
I want to help.
By writing another little story that gets buried on page 17?
I wanted that story on the front page. I did. But my boss...
Yeah. My boss is not too happy with me right now because of you.
(SCOFFS)
You came to me, remember?
So? So, I heard you got a lead out of it.
What I got was a waste of time chasing delivery boys
while the real killer iced Scotty Wu.
So that little boy's death is on me.
No, it's my fault.
I'm going nowhere on this case,
and innocent kids are being killed.
It's a heavy, heavy load, Fin.
But you don't have to carry it alone.
Yeah? You going to solve this case for me?
Enjoy the pity party, Odafin.
(SlGHS)
(EXHALES)
BENSON: Smiles like that ought to live forever.
The kids always get to me, too, Fin.
If you came to give me a pep talk, save it.
Actually, I came to give you these.
Seriously? Are you kidding me? Paperwork?
They're employee files.
For every vendor who does business
with the Center of lmmigrant Services.
From the company that does their payroll
to the one that cleans their toilet.
I figured that one of the people
that goes in and out of there on a daily basis
might be your bad guy.
You stuck your neck out running down leads for me.
And this is the thanks I get?
I've been putting my foot in it with every woman that crossed my path today.
Nicole Gleason?
I bit her head off, and she was just trying to help me.
Fin, you've worked cases like this before. What is it about these kids?
Everything. Their skin color. The fact people just don't seem to care.
Yeah. And you still haven't been able to do anything about it.
Well, maybe I'm closer now. Thank you.
Best way you can thank me? Nail the bastard.
Munch!
What?
Let's get back on this hate mail!
I'm not finding dick. Sure, a lot of pissed-off people.
Some of them even making a good point or two, but no threats to kids.
All I see is enough bad grammar
to think the real problem is education, not immigration.
Well, hopefully, there's something in the employee files
that Liv dug up.
Well, hello.
What, you got a winner?
Well, in a manner of speaking. Someone who calls himself "Born in the USA."
"The more you help those damn illegals,
"the more anchor babies they breed.
"Someone needs to stop you and them."
Is that his only letter?
No, he's just getting started.
"America is becoming the Third World's delivery room."
"Anchor babies need to be aborted."
This one was sent a week after Magda was killed.
That could be our guy. Is he local?
Fallsburg, New York. Inmate 13602.
Bozo's in the joint.
Yeah. I guess it's time to be bored to death by these security tapes.
FlN: You son of a bitch.
Well, screw you, too.
I wasn't talking to you.
What, have you got an imaginary friend now?
Joe Thagard.
He works for the company that shreds the Center's paperwork.
So, he would have access to where Magda, Ruby and Scotty live.
What makes you think it's your guy?
He's the jerk that busted up Randall Carver's office, spouting anti-immigrant crap,
and I cut him loose three hours ago.
OFFlCER 1: NYPD!
Search warrant!
OFFlCER 2: Bathroom's clear!
OFFlCER 3: Bedroom clear!
OFFlCER 4: No sign of your guy.
He hasn't been gone long.
His coffee pot is still hot.
MUNCH: Fin, come here.
Look at this.
Watching the kids on the Center's playground.
Yeah, and stealing their files.
Must have taken him days to tape this stuff back together.
Well, check this out. Magda, Ruby and Scotty.
Their faces are all crossed out.
Yeah. And it looks like he's got four more kids to go.
So, we'll drive you home as soon as we make sure you're safe.
(SPEAKlNG SPANlSH)
Honey, can I get you anything?
Could I have a soda?
Machine's down the hall. Follow me.
Everything's going to be okay, folks.
If you need anything, just ask.
Where's Fin? Bay Ridge. Getting the al-Haziz family.
Hello? Anybody home? Hello?
Police!
BOY: (CRYlNG) I don't want to go with you!
Freeze! Step away from that boy!
(GRUNTS)
Stay in there.
Better grow wings, or I'm going to blow your brains
all over the street down there.
I didn't do nothing to that boy.
Only 'cause I got there first.
I drank some beers earlier. I accidentally went into the wrong apartment.
Then you cold-cocked the dad, tied up the mother.
What, were you going to read the kid a bedtime story?
I didn't do any of that. It might have been one of their terrorist pals.
What gets you off, Thagard?
Wrapping the chain around those little kids necks?
Or knowing you're ridding your lily white world of one more of them?
Oh! We'll never be rid of them.
One dies, and three more are born,
But you're going to even the score?
Somebody has to. But...
Not someone. You.
Wrong.
Admit it. Baby killer. Go ahead. Say the words.
I've only got one word for you.
Coon.
This guy just signed his death warrant.
No. Fin won't take the bait.
That the best you got?
It's more than what you got. Which is nothing.
(CELL PHONE RlNGlNG)
Tell me something good, Munch.
It's all good here at Xenophobe Manor.
What do you want first, the 50-gallon drums we found in the garage,
or the open-link chain CSU found blood and skin tissue on?
FlN: Yeah, bring that here. We'll use it to padlock this toad's jail cell.
Like I said, all you got are words. I got evidence.
Like the little shrine of targets you put on your wall,
and the DNA from these three kids
stuck on the chain you strangled them with.
Magda. Ruby. Scotty.
What's the matter? No more words?
What I did was right. America is going to hell.
Because of bigots like you.
No. Because of them.
They wrecked my life. They're destroying my country.
Well, let's just look at the bright side of it.
You get to become part of the little rainbow coalition we call prison.
Which means you get plenty of them to be your new pals.
(KNOCK ON DOOR)
(DOOR OPENlNG)
You decided to press charges on this creep after all?
Mr. Carver is here to interact with this creep in a different capacity.
I'll be representing Joe Thagard.
FlN: You're pulling my chain.
RANDALL: Pro bono.
This guy murdered three kids.
Yes. Because his mind has been filled with hate
by people like Gordon Garrison.
You should have heard him in my office, ranting about his hard life.
How only Gordon understands.
This man is as much a victim as these three children he killed.
Docket ending 0401, The People v, Joseph James Thagard,
Three counts Murder in the Second Degree.
How does the defendant plead?
I'm not guilty, Your Honor.
PRESTON: I'll hear the People on bail.
Remand, Your Honor.
The defendant is a flight risk with no community ties.
Your Honor, my client has not had the good fortune to be married.
But is that any reason to incarcerate him?
No. But three counts of murder are. I'll remand the defendant.
Parents of this city will sleep better tonight.
Well, you know what? They shouldn't.
Because the real criminal is still at large.
You're claiming he didn't do it?
No. I'm just saying he wasn't responsible. He was brainwashed.
Gordon Garrison made him do it? Is this a joke?
Persistent viewing of the program Flashpoint convinced my client
that undocumented immigrants pose a threat to national security.
CABOT: We better watch out, Your Honor.
I hear listening to NPR will turn us all into zombies.
Mock me. But hate speech from authority figures
is the greatest danger to this country
since McCarthyism, Your Honor.
There are ample legal precedents for a brainwashing defense.
I'll allow it.
(GAVEL POUNDS)
Brainwashed?
Thagard is a bigoted loser trying to dodge a life sentence.
Will the jury see it that way?
Well, that defense didn't work for Patty Hearst.
She was a bit more sympathetic than Joe Thagard.
Princess Patty wouldn't have picked up a machine gun
if the SLA hadn't screwed with her cerebellum.
She would probably get off if she was tried today.
But in 1976, no one had heard of Stockholm syndrome.
Or the Reverend Jim Jones.
Jim Jones brainwashed his followers to drink the Kool-Aid.
Thagard has never even met Gordon Garrison.
Not to mention millions of people
have watched Flashpoint that wouldn't hurt a fly.
But Garrison's not on trial.
All the jury can consider is whether Thagard was nuts.
And we're sure he isn't?
Come on. He knew exactly what he was doing.
So does Carver. I was flipping through the channels last night.
He was on every news show promoting himself.
That's the point. Before the lnternet and the 24-hour news cycle,
kooks could xerox pamphlets.
Now any crackpot can get on television
and get millions of lemmings to jump off any cliff they tell them to.
So, hate speech has a wider reach.
It hasn't caused the murder rate to spike.
Yet. Did you know that the Department of Homeland Security
issued a report on the rise in right-wing extremism
after Obama's election?
Can we just leave the brother out of it, Munch?
All I'm saying is we've got to take these radical fringe groups seriously.
I'll start by showing the jury who Joe Thagard really is.
I started watching Flashpoint right after I got out of the Coast Guard.
I spent a lot of time on my couch,
and it was either him or those stupid soap operas.
You like Gordon Garrison?
At first his ranting bothered me.
But when I really listened, what he was saying made sense.
How so?
I couldn't get work, and I've got skills and experience.
I lost my car, and then my house.
My girlfriend left.
And why do you think these things happened to you, Joe?
Gordon said it was because all the jobs were going to illegal immigrants,
who work for lower wages than real Americans.
And that makes you angry.
Yes, sir. I spent 13 years defending my country,
and they're just going to give my job away?
So, hell yeah, I'm angry. Gordon said that we should all be.
You know, these people don't pay taxes.
They don't pay their hospital bills.
Then their women pop out anchor babies,
and they just get to stay forever.
But not if their children are dead.
I must have been crazy to hurt those kids.
I know...
I know murder is a sin.
But when I watched Flashpoint, it made sense.
RANDALL: Murder made sense?
Gordon kept saying that the government
and all the community organizers
are just giving our country away.
He said that something had to be done.
Kill kids?
Gordon said that desperate times call for desperate measures,
and that a true patriot never shirks his duty.
And you wanted to be a patriot.
Mr. Carver? I'm not smart.
Or, you know, rich and powerful.
But I love my country.
And Gordon said that love isn't enough. That I had to prove it.
So I did.
(SOBBlNG) I'm so sorry I killed those kids.
I would do anything to bring them back. Anything.
RANDALL: It's all right, Joe. It wasn't your fault.
You had a tough life. Caught some bad breaks.
It made you vulnerable to that sleaze-ball, Garrison.
I wish to God I had never listened to Gordon Garrison.
RANDALL: Nothing further.
Did you really think a true patriot
would brutally murder three children?
(SOBBlNG)
Is that a yes or a no?
Ma'am, Gordon said that soldiers have to kill in wartime,
and this is a war.
But you're no soldier.
In fact, you were dishonorably discharged
from the Coast Guard. Is that correct?
I was persecuted by my CO.
A Lieutenant Eddie Velasquez.
Naturalized as a U.S. citizen after years of military service.
You said you weren't going to, quote,
"take orders from a dirty beaner."
No, ma'am. Because he was not qualified.
But I don't blame him. I blame affirmative action.
So, you hated immigrants before you ever watched Flashpoint,
You weren't brainwashed by Garrison.
You've always been a homegrown American racist.
Objection, Your Honor.
If there was a question in that pretty little speech, I'm afraid I missed it.
CABOT: I will rephrase that.
If you were truly brainwashed,
then why didn't you take credit for the crimes?
Why didn't you call up Flashpoint and crow to Garrison?
I mean, if you really believed in the righteousness of your actions,
why not proclaim your deeds to the world?
Ma'am, that never occurred to me.
Because you weren't brainwashed.
You're just a murderer who didn't want to get caught.
Not used to getting your cage rattled, huh?
Score one for Ms. Cabot. But I haven't brought out the big guns yet.
I don't get why you're defending this wacko.
Thagard's a symptom, not the disease.
That symptom killed three kids.
Garrison, Limbaugh, Beck, O'Reilly, all of them.
They're like a cancer spreading ignorance and hate.
I mean, they've convinced folks that immigrants are the problem.
Not corporations that fail to pay a living wage,
or a broken health-care system.
Save the soapbox, Randy. The cameras aren't even running.
I ain't doing this for the attention. I get enough of that already.
Then why are you wasting your time on this loser?
My daddy was a Klansman. Told me stories about lynchings.
When I asked him why, he just said, "Son, some men need killing."
Daddy issues, huh? You get Thagard off,
him and all those knucklehead Kluckers will be real proud of you.
Might even give you your own pointed hood.
Listen to me. I hate the Klan and everything they stand for.
But they did teach me that a good man can be swept up by evil forces.
The problem is bigger than Joe Thagard.
Those kids would still be alive
if Garrison hadn't driven him to kill.
RANDALL: Mr. Garrison, how many times this year
was your show's topic undocumented immigrants?
I have no idea. Fifty-seven.
How often did you use the term "wetback"?
I don't know. I can understand that.
Because, see, I lost count after 18 times in a single broadcast.
"Wetbacks, camel jockeys."
You even referred to people from Canada as Mexicans with sweaters.
I call them like I see them.
MAN: That's why we love you, Gordon!
Real Americans love Gordon Garrison.
Real Americans think he's a fascist bigot! (GAVEL POUNDlNG)
Quiet in my courtroom.
Thank you, Your Honor.
So, you have the right to say anything you want to on the air.
God bless the First Amendment.
Ah, yeah, but free speech does have its limits.
I mean, you can't yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater.
You can if the building's burning.
And make no mistake. This country is ablaze.
Hmm. And you pour gasoline on the flames.
How about you and your bleeding-heart crypto-Marxist buddies?
You speechify at rallies. You march on Washington.
Are you responsible if some anarchists smash a window?
Yes. If my words are a breeding ground for violence.
I never told anybody to kill.
Really?
Last May 29th, did you not say, quote,
"Someone should send these people back to where they came from,
"on a boat or in the back of a truck,
"or even in a pine box," end quote?
I didn't mean murder.
Well, that's exactly what happened.
Joe Thagard took you at your word.
Nothing further, Your Honor.
Mr. Garrison, have you ever met the defendant?
No, I have not.
Had him as a caller on your show?
Signed an autograph for him? Received fan mail from him?
No, no and no.
Then what do you think of the defense's contention that you brainwashed him?
(LAUGHS) Hogwash. Pure and simple.
Folks, I'm just a social thermometer,
taking the temperature of the people.
Rectally?
PRESTON: A.D.A. Cabot.
GORDON: That's all right, Judge.
Alex here doesn't have to agree with me.
Just like Voltaire said. She may disapprove of what I say,
but she'll defend to the death my right to say it.
That wasn't Voltaire.
As usual, you're playing fast and loose with the truth.
Wait here now, Ms. Cabot. Exactly whose side are you on?
The truth,
and the truth is, your views compel me
to do nothing more than reach for a barf bag.
Mr. Carver thinks that you're a god to your followers.
But all I see is an impotent man
spewing hate to line his pockets.
Watch your tone, sweetheart.
Or what? You'll do what to me, Mr. Garrison?
You are a powerless buffoon. An entertaining clown.
Half the people who watch your show only do so to laugh at you.
No one takes you seriously.
You going to let her talk to me that way?
You go to hell, bitch!
WOMAN: She's telling the truth!
Gordon Garrison is wrecking America!
I want those people out.
He's protecting America from socialists like you!
PRESTON: Order in the court! Order! Order!
Court Officer, get the jury out of here.
Are you going to tell me that these people aren't brainwashed?
One word from him, they're throwing punches!
You are out of order, Mr. Carver!
No, no. He's out of order, Your Honor.
Garrison made this happen the same way he made my client kill!
PRESTON: Will the defendant please rise?
On the first count of the indictment, Murder in the Second Degree,
what is your verdict?
Not guilty.
On the second count of the indictment, Murder in the Second Degree,
what is your verdict?
Not guilty.
On the third count of the indictment, Murder in the Second Degree,
what is your verdict?
Not guilty.
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your service.
You are excused.
(lNAUDlBLE)
How the hell did this happen, Alex?
I was hoping you could tell me.
I'd like to wipe that smile off Thagard's face with a belt sander.
It's my fault, Fin. I underestimated Carver.
He gave Thagard one hell of a makeover.
From child killer to pathetic punk with a hard-knock life.
Juries love a weepy mea culpa.
And Garrison looked like the real psycho.
Especially after his freaky fans went nuts.
Why do we even bother?
(JAZZ MUSlC PLAYlNG)
For what it's worth, we finally got the front page.
(SlGHS)
NlCOLE: Can I buy the next round?
I'm not sure I'd be much fun tonight.
You can't scare me off that easy.
(CELL PHONE RlNGlNG)
It's Randall Carver.
What the hell do you want?
Yeah, well, I don't want to see you.
All right. I'm on my way.
I'm sorry. I've got to go. Call you later.
Call tonight.
I'll wait up.
So, what's the big emergency?
You know what Thagard whispered to me in court after he heard the verdict?
What?
He said, "Thanks. Now I can go kill more of those kids."
Well, we've got to stop him.