Homegrown Movie Essay

The film, Homegrown, focuses on the growing phenomenon of American born citizens becoming radical terrorists. There is a focus on how the individuals who were connected to these, men particularly in the film, have reacted to each incident. There is also a glance into the lives and minds of the prosecutors who have fought to put many Muslim American citizens with a shred of internet connection to terrorist organizations behind bars before they hurt anyone. Each one of these individuals whether they were family or friend to the perpetrator, victim, or the prosecution themselves have lived with pain and uncertainty. From the beginning of the film it was made clear that this phenomenon all began after 9/11. After that moment in history, the United

Therefore, by the end of the film it is made clear that no one has survived their situations unscathed. Shifa Sadequee was abducted, spent three years in solitary confinement, and eventually sentenced to 17 years in federal prison as his family fought to have him released. Nader Hasan lost friends and business clients after the media twisted his words when he referred to his cousin as a, “good American.” Omer Mozaffar was teaching the correct ways of Islam after his student Samir Kahn became involved in an ISIS propaganda magazine. Each of these individuals were affected and their lives were never the same after each incident

The FBI, especially can place surveillance on any normal American family, however they did not place surveillance on a soldier who was communicating with known terrorists. Specifically, he was communicating with Anwar Al-Awlaki, an Al-Qaeda leader. However, nothing was done to stop Nidal even as it was aware he had an internal conflict with being an American soldier of Muslim Faith. This case where Nidal succeeded in taking the lives of 13 people could have been prevented if the FBI had spoken to him, perhaps even put him in prison like Shifa. The phenomenon was proven to be inconsistent in Nidal’s case and even sympathy for the FBI was lost. If the concept of spying on Muslims is what the FBI chooses to pursue, they must pursue it otherwise there is little