Daniel Radcliffe Plays Former FBI Agent Who Infiltrated White Supremacist Groups in Upcoming Film
According to Mike German, a Los Angeles-based FBI agent who investigated hate groups for years from the inside, hate groups are "very easy to infiltrate."
"If you were standing on a street corner as they were going [to a Klan cross burning], they'd say, 'Hey, come along.' Those are really open events and they encourage people who really aren't part of the movement to join in those sorts of things," German told Southern Poverty Law Center in 2006.
"But getting into the underlying criminal activity is much harder and that took a lot of time and was very difficult. I worked with excellent case agents who had developed great cooperating witnesses who were able to vouch for me and get me a lot further than I could have just walking in the door. But it's all just trial and error," added the former FBI agent, who eventually uncovered the neo-Nazis were planning a dirty bomb.
German co-wrote the film Imperium, which unveils the story of how the young FBI agent stopped a race war in one of America's most liberal cities. The film is the directorial debut of Daniel Ragussis and stars Daniel Radcliffe as German.
"Literally, one day a guy walked past my office and said, 'I need a young Nazi.' I looked like I was about 15 years old and I had blond hair and blue eyes, so I was kind of perfect for what he was looking for in this particular investigation, which was looking at some violent skinhead activity in Los Angeles," German recalled.
"I learned from Michael that actual undercover agents are primarily master manipulators—able to win confidences, control situations, and outthink the enemy, even when mortal danger is staring them in the face," director Daniel Ragussis told Entertainment Weekly.
German's 12-year stint working for the FBI often involved going undercover to blow the whistle on hate groups' terrorist activities. Ironically, the agent ended up whistleblowing the FBI's own mismanagement, and left soon after.
Imperium hits theaters August 19. The film will also be available on demand.
Watch the trailer:
