In the opening moments of the chilling documentary “(T)error,” a federal judge is heard referring to informants as “sociopaths” by the very nature of their work. They are paid to engage with and earn the trust of suspects then sell them out in the next breath without remorse, before they move on to the next gig. This telling quote sets the stage for the complex and thorny moral dynamics of “(T)error,” a taut and engrossing look at stool pigeons in a post 9/11 era of fear and suspicion.
Since September 11th, approximately 500 suspects have been arrested for terrorist activity within the United States. 60% of these arrests have been predicated upon the use of FBI informants. Directed by Lyric R. Cabral and David Felix Sutcliffe (“Adama”), and executive produced by Eugene Jarecki (“The House I Live In”), the stark and aptly named doc explores the shady ethical world of federal agency employed informants, how the agencies oversteps their bounds and the dubious entrapment techniques...
