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00:01Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
00:30Welcome, welcome, welcome to Last Week Tonight.
00:32John Oliver, thank you so much for joining us.
00:34It has been a busy week.
00:36March Madness got underway.
00:38Mark Wayne Mullin cleared the first hurdle to become head of DHS.
00:40And of course, the conflict in Iran continued.
00:43Now, despite relentless bombing, the US has been unable to stop Iran
00:46striking targets around the region and blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
00:49The news hasn't been great.
00:51So on Thursday, Secretary Pete Hegseth decided to speak to the American public directly.
00:56I stand here today speaking to you, the American people.
01:02Not through filters, not through reporters, not through cable news spin.
01:09Yes, there are reporters in front of me, but they are not our audience today.
01:15It's you, the good, decent, patriotic American people.
01:19You, the hardworking, taxpaying, God-fearing American patriots.
01:26Okay, set aside Hegseth's whole vibe there, which is very,
01:29welcome to my birthday dinner, one of you has been poisoned.
01:33You actually don't need to announce who you are and aren't speaking to.
01:36There's a reason I don't start this show by saying, welcome, welcome, welcome.
01:39Fuck this studio audience.
01:41I wish they'd jump into the Hudson River if they don't laugh that's on them.
01:44Anyway, it's been a busy week.
01:46I might think it, but I'd never say it.
01:50Hegseth seemed particularly frustrated at the press pointing out parallels between this conflict
01:55and the wars that America's been stuck in in the past.
01:58This is not those wars.
02:02President Trump knows better.
02:05Epic Fury is different.
02:07It's laser focused.
02:09It's decisive.
02:10To the patriotic members of the press,
02:12nobody can deliver perfection in wartime.
02:15This building knows that more than anyone.
02:18But report the reality.
02:21We're winning decisively and on our terms.
02:27Epic Fury is different?
02:29Maybe.
02:30It's definitely the stupidest name I've ever heard.
02:32It sounds like a VHS tape Hegseth put out of himself doing karate in a garage.
02:36It sounds like the name of an energy drink marketed to divorced monster truck fans
02:41containing so much caffeine it makes you shit your pants while having a heart attack.
02:45It doesn't exactly convey care and precision.
02:48But at the risk of not being a patriotic member of the press,
02:51a lot of things do seem to be going pretty poorly.
02:54From strikes on Iran's oil facilities causing toxic black rain endangering the public there,
02:58to the continued blockage of the Strait of Hormuz,
03:00which is causing skyrocketing gas prices.
03:03And while polls suggest that Trump's base is sticking with him so far,
03:07there are already signs of some cracks there,
03:09given the response of this woman interviewed at the gas pump.
03:12If you could say something to President Trump and he was going to hear you right now,
03:15what would it be?
03:17You're a worthless pile of shit.
03:21And you voted for him how many times?
03:23Three times.
03:25That was my bad.
03:26Apparently, I'm an idiot.
03:28I mean, not, no.
03:32You know what they say?
03:33Fool me once, shame on you.
03:34Fool me twice, shame on me.
03:36Fool me three times, there's going to be a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
03:39And my road trip to St. Louis is about to cost more than my car payment.
03:43Now, as for where things go from here, who knows?
03:46Thousands of Marines have been sent to the region,
03:48possibly to secure Iran's Karg Island,
03:50which most people would consider putting boots on the ground.
03:53However, Republican Pete Sessions is not most people.
03:56The island is not, in my opinion, boots on the ground in combat circumstances.
04:03It is a territory.
04:05It is Iran.
04:09Well, I'm not going to argue that point.
04:11As a matter of fact, you're right.
04:12But what I would say is the president has chosen not to obliterate the ability to get oil.
04:21And I think he wants to go secure that to make sure the Iranians don't do themselves in.
04:27So I think it's probably wisdom.
04:30Is that boots on the ground?
04:31No, not like inside Iran where they're in the cities.
04:36Wait, wait, so it's not boots on the ground because they're not in the city?
04:41What the fuck are you talking about?
04:43That clearly counts.
04:44The phrase isn't boots in the city.
04:47Mainly because I'm guessing that's already the title of an all-cat reboot of Sex and the City starring Puss
04:51in Boots.
04:52The point is, Trump seems desperate to paint this situation as much more stable than it actually is.
04:58And on Friday, he essentially just declared victory.
05:01Oh, I think we've won.
05:02We've knocked out their navy, their air force.
05:05We've knocked out their anti-aircraft.
05:07We've knocked out everything.
05:08We're roaming free.
05:09From a military standpoint, all they're doing is clogging up the strait.
05:13But from a military standpoint, they're finished.
05:17Oh, well, that's great news.
05:18But here is the problem with that.
05:20He already declared that we'd won the war 11 days ago.
05:23And I don't know if you've noticed, but it has seemed to continue since then.
05:26And I've got to say, for all this administration's disdain for cable news spin and its insistence people report the
05:32reality,
05:33they are stretching the truth to breaking point here.
05:36Because even as Trump's claiming that we've won, the Pentagon's requesting $200 billion in extra funding for this operation,
05:42sure suggesting it's going to be going on for a while.
05:45He's also claimed we've destroyed 100% of Iran's military capability,
05:48which is a little hard to believe, given they're still somehow managing to strike multiple other countries in the region.
05:54And he claimed twice this week that a former president endorsed his decision to go to war,
05:59something they've all since denied.
06:01The lies are getting pretty flagrant here, even by this president's standards, and inevitably people are noticing.
06:08In fact, you could argue that the only irrefutably laser-focused, decisive epic fury that has been on display this
06:14week has been this outburst targeted at him.
06:17You are a worthless pile of sh**.
06:21Again, not no.
06:23And now, as always, people on local TV cannot be trusted with St. Patrick's Day.
06:32It is so great to have you here, Chef.
06:33Thank you for having me.
06:34How are y'all today?
06:35Great.
06:35Thank you and happy St. Patrick's Day to you.
06:37Happy St. Patrick's Day to you.
06:38Top of the mornin'.
06:39May the luck of the Irish be with ya.
06:426.53.
06:43Good morning.
06:43Top of the mornin' to y'all.
06:44Top of the mornin' to all of ya.
06:46Top of the mornin' to ya.
06:48Top of the mornin' to ya.
06:49I don't know if that came out Irish enough, but eh, whatever.
06:51Jane, top of the mornin' to ya.
06:54Top of the mornin' to ya.
06:56Top of the mornin', right?
06:57Top of the mornin' to ya.
06:58Happy St. Patrick's Day.
07:00Oh, I like that.
07:00I like that.
07:01That was good.
07:02Top of the mornin' to ya.
07:04I can't do Irish.
07:05Top of the mornin' to ya, Christina.
07:06It's a beautiful mornin' out there.
07:08And we're definitely feeling like I should stop doing that accent.
07:11Top of the mornin' to ya.
07:13Top of the mornin'.
07:14You gotta give it more oomph, Jacqueline.
07:15I'm not Irish.
07:16Come on.
07:17Maybe Chip has some Irish in him.
07:18Let's send it over to Chip.
07:20Maybe he can do the Irish jig.
07:22I have an Irish jig.
07:23I can do an Irish jig.
07:24No, actually, my, uh, my lineage comes from England,
07:28so we'd be the persecutors, I guess, in that situation.
07:32Who's your favorite Irish person?
07:34I don't know.
07:35What an unhinged thing to say.
07:37Off the top of your head.
07:37You don't like any Irish people?
07:39That's not what I said.
07:40I mean, you can't think of anybody you like.
07:42I'm, uh, no.
07:46Moving on.
07:47Our main story tonight concerns undercover policing.
07:49It's not just a staple of movies and TV shows.
07:51It's something cops do in real life, too, to catch people
07:54suspected of breaking laws, both big and small,
07:56as this woman discovered.
07:58Karen Haag plans to fight the $230 ticket
08:01she got on Halloween day,
08:02accused with dozens of other drivers of not stopping
08:05to let a six-foot-four Donald Duck cross the street.
08:09Then they just told me that I was...
08:11I was getting a ticket because I didn't stop for pedestrian.
08:14And it was a crazy...
08:15It was a duck.
08:16It was a huge duck.
08:17It was scary.
08:18I'm a woman.
08:18It scared me.
08:20It's true.
08:21A cop dressed up as Donald Duck
08:23and then ticketed people who didn't stop to let him cross.
08:27And I get why she kept driving there.
08:29Ducks are terrifying.
08:30As we've covered before,
08:32all ducks, Donald included, have a corkscrew penis.
08:35This isn't the first time that we've used this graphic,
08:37and it will not be the last.
08:39And, incidentally, Disney,
08:40this guy hits public domain in 2030,
08:42and things are gonna get interesting then.
08:46That is just one of many instances
08:48where cops have set up so-called stings.
08:50In the past four decades,
08:52sting operations of all types
08:53have become a major part of law enforcement in the US.
08:56There are stings targeting drug dealing, sex work,
08:58terrorism, tax fraud, drunk driving, poaching,
09:00and a host of other crimes,
09:02including, as you've just seen,
09:04failure to yield to a gigantic duck.
09:06And on some level,
09:07you probably know that cops like running sting operations
09:09given just how often they appear on local news.
09:12Drivers for the online ride service Uber
09:15targeted in an L.A. sting operation.
09:17Dozens of people have been indicted
09:19in a criminal sting operation called Operation Hush.
09:22A four-month major sting operation
09:24ends with a Butler County man facing felony drug charges.
09:27Investigators set up a sting operation orchestrating a purchase
09:30with the suspected drug traffickers.
09:32The amount of fentanyl seized, and hear this,
09:35could kill the entire population of Louisville
09:38several times over.
09:40Wow, is that anchor okay?
09:43Cops say there was enough fentanyl
09:45to annihilate this godforsaken town,
09:47leaving behind nothing but a desert of crow-pegged bones
09:50future generations will only refer to as the Shadow Place.
09:53Up next, we'll take you inside Louisville's new aquarium,
09:55which, and hear this, contains enough water
09:57to drown us all several times over.
10:00But whilst things are often celebrated as triumphs on the news,
10:03when you start digging into them,
10:05the details can quickly become questionable at best.
10:08Take that Uber sting.
10:10The way operations like those work is,
10:12an undercover officer flags down an Uber,
10:14maybe says they don't have the app,
10:15or that their phone is dead,
10:16and offers to pay cash for a ride to their destination.
10:18The trap being, ride-share drivers are subject to arrest
10:21if a ride isn't prearranged.
10:23But that seems like a pretty shitty thing to do,
10:25given drivers may have been bending the rules
10:28to help someone who was telling them they were in need.
10:30And that makes it kind of satisfying
10:32to watch this video shot by someone caught
10:34in a similar sting,
10:35who then went back to the same location
10:37to warn other drivers.
10:39Hey, brother, those people are undercover cops.
10:41I just got a citation for this.
10:43Oh, really?
10:44Yeah, they trapped me.
10:46Yep.
10:48Good job, guys.
10:50I'll see y'all in court.
10:52Oh, I thought your phone was dead.
10:53Oh, your phone ain't dead no more, huh?
10:56Excellent.
10:56Everything about that is great,
10:58from the speed at which the driver pulls away
11:00when he hears the word cops,
11:01to the cops' clear disappointment,
11:03to the glee of the guy taunting them.
11:05I honestly haven't been this delighted
11:07to see a cop on camera
11:08since that Boston big boy
11:09zooted out of the slide.
11:15It's still so good.
11:18It will never not be good.
11:20If I die with a smile on my face,
11:22you will know that that was the last thing I saw.
11:25Call that video Paul Rudd,
11:27because it never gets old.
11:29But if it seems like the cops in that sting
11:31weren't so much stopping crime as creating it,
11:34that's sort of the point here.
11:36And it's honestly the case
11:37with more of these operations
11:38than you might think.
11:39So given all that, tonight,
11:40let's look at stings.
11:42Why police love them,
11:43how they use them,
11:44and who is paying the price.
11:45Let's start with how they became so popular.
11:48Stings really took off in the 1970s,
11:49as police shifted from primarily reacting to crime
11:52to trying to prevent it.
11:54That shift coincided with a string
11:55of Supreme Court decisions
11:56that expanded protections for defendants
11:58against coercive police tactics
12:00with things like the establishment
12:01of Miranda rights.
12:02As one expert noted,
12:04as the police use of coercion
12:06has been restricted,
12:07their use of deception has increased.
12:10The first large-scale sting operation
12:12began in 1975.
12:13And in it, DC police created a fake
12:15mafia-run fencing operation
12:16to lure people into selling them stolen property.
12:19And officers really got into their roles,
12:22giving themselves quote-unquote
12:23Italian names like
12:24Angelo Lasagna
12:26and Rico Rigatoni.
12:28Here is a photo of them.
12:29It is a picture that screams
12:30the only Italian word I know
12:32is lasagna.
12:34They even padded out their backstory
12:36with lines like
12:36we got a stiff in the trunk,
12:38what do we do?
12:39To which Rico Rigatoni would reply
12:41toss a him in the freeze.
12:43They also offered targets meatballs,
12:45telling them, and I quote,
12:46you'll hurt Pasquale's feeling
12:47if you no have a meatball.
12:50Ultimately, they wrapped up this thing
12:51by inviting everyone
12:52who sold goods to them
12:53to a giant party
12:54where a police sergeant
12:55played Don Corleone
12:56and had attendees kiss his ring
12:58as he told them
12:59they were under arrest
13:00all while one agent sang
13:01when the moon hits your eye
13:02like a big piece of pie
13:04as he put handcuffs on them.
13:06And wow,
13:06that's a lot of stereotype.
13:10But that sting was viewed
13:12as such a success,
13:13the federal government
13:14started giving local police money
13:16to emulate it.
13:17And departments around the country
13:18began doing their own versions.
13:20And the appeal of Sting's
13:21was obvious.
13:22As this news report
13:23from 1979 explains,
13:25catching people on tape
13:26makes for very easy prosecutions.
13:29Around the country,
13:30officials have had great success
13:32in court with sting evidence.
13:33In Memphis,
13:34all but eight of the 1,500
13:36sting defendants pleaded guilty.
13:38And every one of those
13:39who chose a trial
13:40was convicted
13:41when the jury saw the tapes.
13:43Right, and that does make sense,
13:45doesn't it?
13:45Because once you have someone on tape,
13:47it is usually pretty much game over,
13:49with one notable exception.
13:51And police have sometimes
13:53gotten way too into
13:54the playing dress-up part
13:55of Sting's.
13:55In Baton Rouge in the 90s,
13:57some cops wore blackface
13:58in a sting operation,
13:59bragging to local reporters,
14:01not only do they not know
14:02we're cops,
14:03they don't even know
14:03we're white.
14:04And first of all,
14:05oh yes, they did.
14:07No one in the history of blackface
14:09has ever pulled it off.
14:11But also,
14:11you just cannot convince me
14:12that a white cop
14:13could speak for more
14:14than 20 seconds
14:15without identifying himself
14:16as both white and a cop.
14:19And the thing is,
14:19as Sting's became more common,
14:21courts have been reluctant
14:22to set limits
14:23on what police are allowed
14:24to do in them.
14:25As one analysis puts it,
14:26there are no clear
14:27legal limitations
14:28on the length of the operation,
14:29the intimacy
14:30of the relationships formed,
14:31the degree of deception used,
14:32the degree of temptation offered,
14:34and the number of times
14:35it is offered.
14:36All of which leaves the government
14:37with a nearly limitless ability
14:39to deceive.
14:40And some law enforcement
14:41will take that
14:42as an opportunity
14:43to rack up easy arrests
14:44and make some headlines.
14:46Take Sheriff Grady Judd
14:47in Florida.
14:48His department's
14:49constantly boasting
14:50about running online stings,
14:52often fishing for arrests
14:53concerning sex offences
14:54with flashing names
14:55like Cyber Guardian,
14:57Naughty Not Nice 2,
14:58and Child Protector 2.
15:00We sound less like
15:01police operators
15:02and more like
15:02Steven's cigar movies.
15:04And while you'd hope
15:05they targeted predators
15:07looking to engage
15:07in criminal activity,
15:09when a local station
15:10dug into the tactics
15:11Judd was using,
15:12they found that
15:12wasn't exactly the case.
15:14You think you know
15:15how these stings go down?
15:17Cops post an ad
15:18for an underage teen,
15:19wait for predators
15:20to respond,
15:21then arrest them
15:22when they show up in person.
15:23If I had Grady's World,
15:24they'd all go to prison.
15:26But what so many
15:27of our local law enforcement
15:28leaders are not telling you
15:29is that they've had
15:30to try harder and harder
15:31over the years
15:32to trick men
15:32into showing up.
15:3310 Investigates has learned
15:35through court documents
15:36and arrest reports
15:36that law enforcement
15:38is now reaching out
15:38themselves to young men
15:40who did nothing more
15:41than post an ad
15:42on a traditional dating site.
15:43Cops form a rapport,
15:45then switch their age,
15:46and try to trick the
15:47sometimes hesitant men
15:48to keep on talking.
15:50They had me call them.
15:51I sat on the phone
15:52for an hour
15:54with a grown woman
15:55who was talking to me
15:56in a very seductive manner.
15:59He was 22
16:00when he had his first
16:01and only run in
16:02with the law.
16:02He thought he was talking
16:03to a 26 year old online
16:05who even sent this photo,
16:06wedding ring and all.
16:07But after baiting him in,
16:08she switched her age
16:10from 26 to 13.
16:11Joseph thought she had
16:13to have been kidding,
16:13so he took her up
16:14on her offer to meet.
16:15I walked into a house
16:16and was thrown into
16:17handcuffs.
16:18He's serving two years
16:19of house arrest,
16:20then the equivalent
16:21of a life sentence,
16:22since he's now labeled
16:23a sexual offender.
16:24That really doesn't feel
16:26like a slam dunk
16:27for justice there,
16:28does it?
16:28He posted an ad online
16:30looking for an adult,
16:31then talked to an adult
16:32on an adult site
16:33and then got understandably
16:34confused when that adult
16:35suddenly reversed big
16:37to themselves,
16:38especially given he'd
16:39already been sent this photo,
16:40which is obviously
16:41of a grown woman.
16:42Wedding ring aside,
16:43she's got the face of someone
16:44who knows what a Roth IRA is.
16:47But while the crimes
16:48in these operations
16:49can be made up,
16:50the punishments
16:51can be very real,
16:52and not just when
16:53it comes to sex stings.
16:54The ATF for years
16:55did so-called
16:56stash house stings,
16:57where basically
16:58undercover agents
16:59would recruit
17:00a group of people
17:00to rob a non-existent
17:02stash house full of drugs
17:03with the promise
17:04of huge amounts of money.
17:05Over the years,
17:06they arrested over
17:06a thousand people
17:07in these sorts of stings,
17:08like these men
17:09who walked right into the trap.
17:11Stun grenades startle
17:13three young men
17:13near Chicago as police
17:15move in.
17:15They thought they were going
17:16to rob a drug stash house.
17:18Instead,
17:19they got busted.
17:20A fake scenario
17:21set up by the ATF
17:22to get hardened criminals
17:24off the street.
17:25Yeah, they lured
17:26a bunch of people
17:27into a car
17:27under false pretenses,
17:28and then sprang
17:29a nasty surprise on them.
17:30It's almost as bad
17:31as accidentally
17:32hailing the cash cab
17:33under no circumstances,
17:35by the way.
17:36Do you hear me?
17:36The only way
17:37I'm being transported
17:38in that thing
17:39is if you kill me
17:39and stuff me in the trunk.
17:42And while police will claim
17:43things like those
17:44catch people
17:45who'd commit
17:45violent crimes anyway,
17:47I'm not so sure
17:48about that.
17:49Reporters looked
17:50into that case
17:50and found that this guy
17:51not only had no convictions
17:53for violent offenses,
17:54he clearly didn't know
17:55what he was doing.
17:57USA Today found
17:58this small-time criminal
18:00in this case
18:00showed up with
18:01a rusty gun
18:02and bullets
18:03that didn't fit.
18:04His punishment?
18:04Looking at 25 years
18:06in jail.
18:07Yeah, apparently,
18:08that gun was so old
18:09it'd be made sometime
18:10before World War I.
18:12And a rusty old gun
18:14with bullets that don't fit
18:15clearly shouldn't justify
18:16sending a man to prison
18:17for 25 years.
18:19At best,
18:20it should be the comic
18:20relief character
18:21in a Pixar movie
18:22where a bunch of talking guns
18:23learn the value
18:24of found family.
18:26And the thing is,
18:27judges may not have
18:28a lot of room for leniency
18:29in cases like that
18:30thanks to mandatory
18:31minimum sentencing laws
18:32which trigger
18:33based on the severity
18:34of the crime.
18:35And because
18:36the ATF's
18:37making the crime
18:38up in the first place
18:39they can make sure
18:40it meets mandatory minimums
18:42by inventing drug amounts
18:43that trigger
18:43long sentences
18:44or pressuring targets
18:45into doing things
18:46that increase the penalty.
18:48In one sting
18:48out of Wichita
18:49ATF agents suggested
18:50the felon take a shotgun
18:51store it off
18:52and bring it back to them
18:54even providing instructions
18:55on how to do it.
18:56That sort of gun
18:57that allowed them
18:58to charge the man
18:59with a more serious crime.
19:00And if you think
19:01well, hold on
19:01isn't all this entrapment?
19:03You would think so.
19:05But it turns out
19:06the legal bar for proving
19:08entrapment
19:08is incredibly high.
19:10One big reason
19:11is that in court
19:11prosecutors simply
19:12have to show
19:13that you're doing something
19:13you'd have been
19:15predisposed to do anyway.
19:16And depending on your case
19:17things like prior convictions
19:18and drug addiction
19:19could qualify.
19:21Often all they have to show
19:22is that you are willing
19:23to commit the crime.
19:24But a key reason
19:25people can be willing
19:26to do that
19:27is because they've just
19:28been offered a lot of money.
19:30All of which
19:30makes you feel pretty predatory
19:32that these things
19:32can actively target
19:33low-income communities.
19:35In California
19:36a federal judge
19:36even accused
19:38ATF agents
19:39of trolling
19:40poor neighborhoods
19:41for suspects.
19:42Investigations
19:43have also found
19:43things disproportionately
19:44target minorities.
19:46Now one that looked
19:46at seven years
19:47of stash house things
19:48in the greater Chicago area
19:50found that of the people
19:51charged in them
19:5192%
19:53were black or Hispanic.
19:55And when a retired
19:56ATF agent was asked
19:56to explain why
19:57they chose certain areas
19:59his answer
19:59wasn't great.
20:01Why do a stash house
20:02investigation
20:03in Englewood
20:03as opposed to
20:04some other place?
20:06Well we don't.
20:07We do them
20:08anywhere that we find
20:09that there's people
20:10that are willing to
20:10participate in that
20:11level of violence.
20:12Those are people
20:13we're going to want to
20:13talk to.
20:14Again, this is a kill
20:16or be killed proposition.
20:17It doesn't matter
20:18if you're in Englewood,
20:19the west side, Detroit,
20:23New Orleans, anywhere.
20:24Any community
20:25where we can find
20:26those violent people
20:27within that community
20:28then we'll provide them
20:30with this opportunity.
20:31Huh.
20:31What a fascinating
20:33off the top of your head
20:34list that was.
20:36Englewood,
20:36the west side,
20:37Detroit, or New Orleans.
20:38All fun fact,
20:39majority black areas.
20:41He's only one step away
20:42from adding Wakanda
20:43to that list.
20:45And disproportionate
20:46targeting has been
20:46baked into stings
20:47from the very beginning.
20:48Remember the fake
20:49mafia guys buying
20:50fenced goods?
20:51It rounded up about
20:52120 people,
20:53although most were
20:54not experienced traffickers,
20:56but unemployed black men
20:57who had heard about
20:58the high prices being
20:58offered at the warehouse
20:59and had decided
21:00to steal something.
21:02Flash forward to 2018
21:03and law enforcement
21:04in Chicago were using
21:05a Bates truck
21:06that they filled
21:06with Nike sneakers
21:07and parked in an
21:08impoverished neighborhood.
21:09Something that
21:10justifiably infuriated
21:12community members.
21:13The study of y'all
21:14chasing crime,
21:15you trying to create crime.
21:17On this YouTube video
21:18posted by
21:18anti-crime activist
21:19Charles McKenzie,
21:21outraged residents
21:22call that entrapment.
21:23Y'all baiting our
21:24young kids.
21:24It's a bait truck, man.
21:28I think this is bogus
21:30and y'all shouldn't be
21:31entrapning black kids.
21:32I think it's bogus.
21:32It's real crimes being
21:34committed.
21:34Why do you gotta do this?
21:35Why don't you preach
21:36to something else?
21:36Put this in your neighborhood.
21:39Yeah, fair point.
21:40I know it's a little hard
21:42to tell what the cop dropped
21:43on the ground there,
21:44but from context,
21:45I'm gonna just guess
21:45it's his dignity.
21:46But it is not just racial
21:49or economic targeting.
21:50Stings can also sweep up
21:51people who might be easier
21:52for cops to manipulate
21:53due to mental illness
21:54or disabilities.
21:56Just listen to these
21:56parents of an autistic
21:57teenager in California
21:58tell the story of how
21:59some happy news from
22:00school quickly took a turn
22:02for the worse.
22:03He told me that he met
22:04a new friend in art class,
22:06and I was completely
22:07amazed by that.
22:08It seemed like they were
22:09having these great
22:11conversations back and forth
22:12or what seemed typical
22:13for a teenager because
22:15there was such a furious
22:16amount of texting going
22:18on.
22:18But those texts weren't
22:19just friendly teenage
22:20banter.
22:21Instead, their son's new
22:22friend was pressuring him
22:23to buy marijuana.
22:24And this new friend
22:25wasn't just a teenager.
22:26He was an undercover cop
22:28who went by the name
22:28of Daniel Briggs.
22:30It took the Snodgrass's
22:31son three weeks to buy
22:32half a joint of pot off
22:33a homeless man.
22:34A few weeks later,
22:35armed policemen walked
22:36into his classroom and
22:38arrested him in front of
22:39his peers.
22:39Twenty-two students were
22:41arrested in the drug
22:41sting.
22:42Most of them were
22:43special needs students.
22:44That is appalling.
22:46And for what it's worth,
22:47their son only got the
22:48joint because his cop
22:50friend told him he was
22:51always in trouble with
22:52his strict mom and was
22:53super stressed.
22:54That's why he really
22:55needed it.
22:55So it seems that cop was
22:57truly living by Mr.
22:58Rogers' famous advice,
22:59look for the helpers
23:00so you can arrest them
23:01for weed possession.
23:03And in a sign of just
23:04how much the media
23:05uncritically lapsed these
23:07stories up.
23:08This is how those arrests
23:09got covered on the local
23:10news.
23:11Riverside County
23:12Sheriff's deputies have
23:13smashed an illegal drug
23:14ring operating out of
23:16three high schools in
23:17Temecula.
23:18Twenty-two students were
23:19taken into custody.
23:20It was like 21 Jump Street.
23:22Deputies say during the
23:23investigation they seized
23:24all types of drugs,
23:25meth, cocaine, LSD,
23:27and ecstasy.
23:28Chaparral High School also
23:30had students escorted by
23:31police off campus.
23:32This picture shows one of
23:33five arrests made there.
23:34That kid on the screen there
23:36was the one who spent weeks
23:38trying to buy half a joint
23:39for his friend because he
23:40was worried about it.
23:41But I can see why the news
23:43didn't lead with that
23:43angle.
23:44Cops bust massive drug ring
23:46is a much cooler story
23:47than cops manipulate slash
23:49arrest autistic teen.
23:50And it goes way beyond
23:52school drug busts.
23:53An investigation into
23:54another ATF practice of
23:55setting up fake stores
23:56to buy drugs and guns
23:57found them repeatedly
23:59manipulating people
24:00with disabilities.
24:00In one case, agents
24:02set up a fake smoke shop
24:03in Portland and paid a
24:0419-year-old who was
24:05mentally disabled and his
24:06friend to promote their
24:08store by, and this is true,
24:10getting a large tattoo on
24:11their necks of the fake
24:12shop's emblem, which was a
24:14giant squid smoking a joint.
24:16Which is utterly despicable.
24:19And when a judge later
24:20reprimanded a government
24:21lawyer for that, I'd argue
24:23she did it in far too casual
24:25a manner.
24:26But the agent, it was
24:27government money that was
24:28used to pay for the tattoos?
24:29I believe so.
24:31Uh, could you send a message
24:32back to, uh, which agency
24:35was doing it?
24:36Uh, ATF.
24:37That, uh, it's really a bad
24:39idea.
24:40Um, nothing unlawful about it,
24:43but, uh, not a good idea.
24:45Not a good idea?
24:46Look, there is a time to be
24:47polite, but finding out agents
24:49just use taxpayer money to
24:50tattoo a teen with mental
24:52disabilities is not it.
24:53In fact, I looked up that
24:55exact situation in Emily
24:56Post's book of etiquette
24:57and her advice just says,
24:58fuck those fuckers sideways
24:59with a rusty fork.
25:01I didn't say that.
25:01Emily Post did.
25:02So you know it's official.
25:05And if it wasn't enough
25:06for cops to prey on
25:07disabled or desperate
25:08people, there is one more
25:09way they can make things
25:10easy on themselves with
25:11stings, and that is by
25:12using confidential informants,
25:14or CIs.
25:15Basically, people they're
25:16convinced to go undercover
25:17on their behalf.
25:18Sometimes by paying them,
25:19but often by taking people
25:21they've already arrested
25:21and pressuring them to work
25:23as CIs to obtain their
25:25freedom.
25:25As this ex-cop readily
25:27explains, using these
25:29sources can really speed
25:30things up when it comes
25:31to making a case.
25:32If you had not been able
25:34personally to use
25:35confidential informants,
25:36would you have been as
25:38effective?
25:39Nowhere near as effective.
25:40You really feel you need
25:42this?
25:42Oh, I know I would not.
25:43I may have to watch a house
25:45for days or weeks to
25:47establish probable cause.
25:48My informant goes in and
25:49makes a buy out of it,
25:50and I have my probable cause
25:51that was in five minutes.
25:52Look, I will concede that
25:54man in particular is going
25:56to have a hard time going
25:57undercover because if you
25:59showed me that guy and
26:00gave me three guesses what
26:01he does for a living,
26:02they'd be in order.
26:03Cop, cop, and guy who
26:05plays cop in porn.
26:07And the appeal for police
26:09in CIs is obvious.
26:10They're people who may
26:11already be known and
26:12trusted in their community,
26:13and crucially, as
26:14civilians, they're subject
26:15to even fewer rules and
26:16restrictions than cops
26:18regarding conduct during
26:19an investigation.
26:20But there are some obvious
26:21issues here.
26:22First, because CIs can be
26:24paid or working under the
26:25threat of jail time,
26:26they can be under huge
26:27pressure to produce
26:28whatever info cops need,
26:30whether it is reliable or
26:31not, meaning they might
26:32well fabricate information.
26:34Also, cops can look the
26:36other way at crimes their
26:37CIs have committed or even
26:38continue to commit while
26:40they are working for them.
26:41And finally, if you're
26:41thinking pressuring untrained
26:43civilians into doing the
26:44job of undercover cops feels
26:46like it could end badly,
26:47you're right about that.
26:48There have been multiple
26:49stories of CIs being
26:50assaulted or murdered in the
26:52course of working for the
26:53police.
26:53In fact, as this expert
26:54points out, there are a
26:55whole host of issues CIs
26:57raise, but the limited
26:58nature of disclosure on
26:59these operations means we
27:01don't know the full extent
27:02of any of them.
27:03There is no law enforcement
27:06entity or official in this
27:08country that knows how
27:10many informants there are,
27:11how many crimes they solve,
27:14and how many crimes are
27:16tolerated by law enforcement
27:18by the informants that they
27:20run.
27:21Exactly.
27:21And it is probably not a
27:23great sign that we have
27:24less information about
27:25confidential informants than
27:26we do about how many
27:27toilets Meghan Trainor and
27:29her spy kid husband have.
27:30And it's not just
27:31information on confidential.
27:32You know what?
27:32I don't think I was actually
27:33clear about that.
27:34They have two.
27:34They have two toilets right
27:37next to each other so they
27:38can piss and presumably shit
27:40together without breaking
27:41eye contact.
27:42That is from their old house.
27:44They've since moved and are
27:45opting for a, quote,
27:46knees to knees set up.
27:48Yeah.
27:49I don't like knowing this
27:50about them either, but at
27:52least we're on the same page
27:53now.
27:54Anyway, it's not just
27:56information on confidential
27:57informants.
27:58Public data on stings in
27:59general is extremely limited,
28:01partly because they're usually
28:02not subject to public
28:03disclosure laws.
28:04And that, mixed with a
28:06near limitless ability for cops
28:08to target anyone they want,
28:09is a truly dangerous
28:10combination.
28:11And if you want to see
28:12everything that we've discussed
28:13tonight in one place, just
28:14look at counter-terrorism
28:15stings.
28:16After 9-11, the FBI went hard
28:18in trying to preemptively stop
28:19the next big terror attack.
28:21One hallmark of this involves
28:22stings targeted at Muslim
28:24communities.
28:25And these cases resulted in a
28:26lot of convictions.
28:27A survey two years ago found
28:29that out of 992 terrorism
28:30defendants since 9-11, just
28:32three have been acquitted and
28:34four have seen their charges
28:35dropped or dismissed, giving
28:36the Justice Department a near
28:38perfect record of conviction when
28:40it comes to terrorism cases.
28:41But that same report also found
28:44that the majority of
28:45defendants had no direct
28:46connection to terrorist
28:47organizations at all.
28:49And over a third had been
28:50caught up in FBI stings.
28:52And some of those were
28:53incredibly dicey.
28:55Like the case of these four men
28:56in Newburgh, New York,
28:58who the FBI claimed planned
28:59to attack synagogues and an
29:00airport.
29:01And at the time, they trumpeted
29:02the arrests as a huge deal.
29:04We have breaking news.
29:06The FBI says it has thwarted a
29:08terror plot.
29:09Federal investigators say the
29:10suspects are four men with a
29:12shared hatred for America.
29:14According to the FBI, the four
29:16men intended to carry out their
29:18plan today.
29:19The good news here is that our
29:21FBI and our NYPD did a very,
29:24very good job.
29:25The fact that we've been able to
29:28penetrate these groups early on,
29:30they were being monitored for
29:32close to a year.
29:33This is truly a textbook example
29:35of how a major investigation
29:38should be conducted.
29:40That sounds pretty impressive,
29:42doesn't it?
29:42But you should know, while
29:43friend of the Bailey's Chuck
29:44Schumer there was bragging that
29:46the FBI was able to penetrate
29:47the group very early on,
29:49the reason for that is they're
29:50the ones who put the group
29:51together in the first place.
29:53The entire plan was concocted
29:55by the FBI.
29:56So I guess it really was textbook
29:58if the textbook was called
29:59How to Solve Crimes When
30:00You're the One Doing Them.
30:02The truth is none of the four men
30:04arrested were militants.
30:05They were, however,
30:06impoverished individuals,
30:07one of whom had severe
30:08mental health issues.
30:09They were recruited by an
30:10informant who promised them
30:12huge financial inducements
30:13to carry out the plot
30:14including $250,000 free
30:16holidays and expensive cars.
30:18And that informant then did
30:19everything for the men from
30:21getting them missile and
30:22bombs to teaching them the
30:23tenets of radical Islam.
30:25One of their attorneys actually
30:26summed up the whole situation
30:27pretty succinctly.
30:28The government conceded a trial
30:30that these four defendants
30:31never had a plan,
30:34never had done this before,
30:35had no technology ability to
30:37this, had no access to these
30:39kind of weapons, had no access
30:41to the money to make these
30:42kind of bombs, had no access
30:44to terrorists to come up with
30:45the ideas, had no access to
30:47anything, even cars.
30:50These four defendants were no
30:51more capable of firing a
30:53stinger missile or creating a
30:54bomb than, you know, Tony the
30:58Tiger could make a bomb,
30:59Frost and Flight Spines.
31:01Yeah, that is both infuriating
31:03and completely true right up to
31:05his claim about Tony the Tiger
31:07because I know this isn't the
31:08point.
31:09Tony the Tiger is a fictional
31:10character therefore in his world
31:11he is capable of anything
31:12including bomb making.
31:14Now do I believe the good folks
31:17at Kellogg's would put a bomb
31:18maker on their cereal box?
31:19No.
31:20But could Tony conceptually
31:22build a bomb in the universe
31:24he inhabits?
31:24Of course he could and by that
31:25logic you can make the case
31:27that he was actually more
31:28equipped to do terrorism
31:29than these people the FBI
31:31railroaded for no fucking
31:32reason.
31:33Ultimately the men were
31:34sentenced in 2011 to a
31:35mandatory minimum of 25 years
31:37in prison.
31:38Although three years ago the
31:40judge in their case granted
31:41a motion for compassionate
31:42release calling their conduct
31:43heinous but acknowledging the
31:45real lead conspirator was the
31:47United States.
31:48which depressingly is pretty
31:50much modern world history in a
31:51sentence.
31:52And you can see just how
31:54tempting it is for law
31:55enforcement to do this
31:56especially whenever there is a
31:58panic about a certain
31:59population.
32:00More recently it has been
32:01immigrants.
32:02You may remember when Trump
32:03and the media were freaking out
32:04about that video that
32:05supposedly proved trend
32:06Aragua gangs were taking
32:07over Colorado apartment
32:09complexes.
32:10It was undeniably a
32:11frightening image.
32:12And in the wake of that the
32:13ATF ran a sting operation in
32:15that town with undercover
32:17agents offering large sums of
32:18money to Venezuelan immigrants
32:19to procure them guns and
32:21drugs.
32:22And last summer DOJ officials
32:23called a press conference to
32:24proudly show off the results.
32:26In a matter of minutes we learned
32:28this was far more than a news
32:30conference about arrests, drugs, and
32:33guns.
32:34The 10 month undercover operation
32:36produced 30 arrests including
32:37three described as TDA leaders
32:39along with five other alleged TDA
32:42members.
32:43The others labeled as actively
32:45involved in TDA criminal activity.
32:48TDA has brought its terrorism to
32:50the United States.
32:51TDA is real.
32:52It is dangerous.
32:53And we have made prosecuting TDA
32:55a priority in the District of
32:56Colorado.
32:57Okay.
32:58So there is a lot to unpack there
32:59from the elaborate work that
33:00went into their massive gun
33:02diorama to what is in those
33:04baggies because it looks to me
33:05like pink panther jizz.
33:07But the thing is, as one
33:09reporter since put it, the
33:10results of that sting in court
33:12have failed to back up the hype
33:14because finally suggest most of
33:16the people charged weren't
33:17actually gang members at all, but
33:18a loose collection of impoverished
33:19and desperate immigrants drawn
33:20in by offers of cash.
33:22In fact, when it comes to those
33:23firearms, it's worth knowing
33:25many of the drugs and guns
33:26weren't in the defenders'
33:27possession before the
33:29government got involved.
33:30So the Feds basically dangled
33:31money in front of a bunch of
33:33desperate people, said,
33:34go get us guns, and they did it.
33:36And all that really proves is
33:38that for enough money you can
33:39basically get people to do
33:40anything.
33:41Which, not for nothing was,
33:42I believe, also the official
33:43slogan of the Riyadh Comedy
33:44Festival.
33:45The point here is...
33:48The long history of police
33:50things has far too often left us
33:52with a bunch of fake crimes
33:54from manufactured criminals
33:55resulting in very real
33:57punishments.
33:57And look, I am not saying
33:59the crimes you've seen people
34:01arrested for tonight don't
34:02happen.
34:02Of course they do.
34:03People do sell drugs in
34:04schools, traffic guns,
34:06planned terror attacks,
34:07and molest children.
34:08And those crimes should be
34:09investigated.
34:10The problem with stings is,
34:12they're an easy way for police
34:14to rack up arrests and sell
34:15the illusion that they're
34:16addressing these crimes,
34:18even when that may not
34:19actually be the case.
34:20Remember that county in Florida
34:22where Grady Judd loves to hold
34:23press conferences about his
34:24online sex stings?
34:25It's currently being sued by
34:27this woman, who came to them
34:28at age 12 because she'd been
34:30sexually abused by her
34:31adoptive father for years.
34:32The investigation by Judd's
34:34department was an absolute
34:36disgrace.
34:37The detective who handled her
34:38case failed to collect key
34:39evidence, and as her
34:41supervisor later wrote,
34:42conducted an interview of the
34:43girl using inappropriate
34:44questions and statements.
34:46Judd's department ultimately
34:47wound up charging the girl
34:49with giving false information
34:50to a law enforcement officer
34:51for which she was placed
34:52on probation, and also made
34:54to write these letters of
34:55apology to both her abuser
34:57and the sheriff's office.
34:58It was only after she was
35:00abused again, during which she
35:02had the presence of mind
35:03to take photos and video of
35:04the incident on her phone,
35:05that her abuser was finally
35:06arrested and sentenced
35:07through 17 years in prison,
35:09which is clearly infuriating.
35:12She basically had to do
35:13that department's work for
35:14them.
35:15And it makes you think that
35:16maybe Grady Judd's office
35:18would have been a little
35:18better at protecting an actual
35:20child if they weren't
35:21spending all day pretending
35:22to be one online.
35:24Now Judd never responded to
35:26us when we asked him
35:27about this, but apparently
35:28I still have to tell you
35:29that they've called that
35:30woman's lawsuit frivolous
35:31and baseless.
35:32And I don't know man,
35:34when you've made a literal
35:35child write a letter of
35:37apology to her rapist,
35:38I wouldn't be throwing
35:38the word frivolous around.
35:40I might just shut the
35:41fuck up about everything
35:43for the rest of my
35:44fucking life.
35:45But I guess reasonable
35:46people can agree to
35:48disagree there.
35:49And when you put all
35:51this together, it's hard
35:53not to conclude that
35:54stings might actually be
35:55doing more harm than good.
35:56So, what do we do?
35:58Well, I would argue at the
35:59very least, cops should be
36:01doing much less of them
36:02and ideally none of the
36:03stings where the goal is
36:04basically find anybody for
36:06anything.
36:07As one expert put it,
36:08if we're going to do
36:09stings, they should be
36:10narrowly focused on
36:11individuals who law
36:12enforcement have credible
36:13evidence, may be planning
36:14to commit a serious or
36:15violent crime imminently,
36:17or who've already done so
36:18and are planning to do so
36:20again.
36:20Which seems right to me.
36:21Because as it stands, police
36:24seem utterly addicted to
36:25stings, even though for
36:26what it's worth, making up
36:28imaginary crimes and
36:29arresting people for them
36:30isn't law enforcement.
36:31It is theatre.
36:32In fact, the one reform that
36:34might actually be within all
36:36our control right now is to
36:38try and remember that we
36:39are all the audience for
36:40that theatre.
36:41So, if you are serving on a
36:42jury, or work in the media,
36:44or you see a story on TV
36:45about a sting operation, it's
36:47worth questioning what role
36:48law enforcement played in
36:49creating the crime that they
36:51just supposedly stopped.
36:53Honestly, we first started
36:54looking at this story a few
36:55years ago, and it has
36:56changed how I've viewed
36:58every sting story that's
36:59made headlines since.
37:00Remember when that group
37:01of men were arrested for
37:02trying to kidnap Gretchen
37:03Whitmer?
37:04Guess how many confidential
37:05informants seem to help
37:07that plot along?
37:07I'll give you a clue.
37:08It is a lot more than you
37:10would like.
37:11And you don't have to
37:11sympathize with these men,
37:13or agree with their views,
37:14to wonder if that plan could
37:16have even gotten off the
37:17ground if there hadn't
37:18been as many as a dozen
37:19confidential informants
37:20involved and two undercover
37:22federal agents.
37:23The point here is,
37:25cops have been getting
37:25away with bullshit stings
37:27for far too long,
37:28and we just cannot let this
37:29slide anymore.
37:30In fact, there's really only
37:32one type of cop sliding
37:33that I am completely on board
37:35with.
37:36And I think we all know
37:38what it is.
37:43Fuck you, Paul Thomas Anderson.
37:45That is the best picture of
37:46any goddamn year right there.
37:48That is our show.
37:49Thanks so much for watching.
37:51Good night.
37:52.
37:52.
37:53.
37:55.
37:55.
37:55.
37:58.
37:59.
38:00.
38:02You
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