Gustav Briegleb quotes from Changeling (2008)
Played by John Malkovich
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Our thoughts go out again today to Mrs. Christine Collins of Lincoln Heights, whose young son, Walter Collins, disappeared nearly two weeks ago. Though she is not a member of our congregation, we pray for her today as we have every day, since we learned of her plight. On the radio and in the newspapers we are told that the Los Angeles Police Department is doing its very best to reunite mother and child, and I'm sure that that is true. But given its status as the most violent, corrupt and incompetent police department this side of the Rocky Mountains I am not sure it's saying a great deal. Every day, new bodies appear along Mulholland and in the ditches of our cities, the work of Police Chief James Davis and his aptly named Gun Squad. Every day, the needs of honest citizens are put second to greed and personal gain. Every day, this city sinks deeper into a cesspool of fear, intimidation and corruption. Once the City of Angels, Los Angeles has become a place where our protectors have become our brutalizers. Where to be the law is to be above the law.
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I'm going to tell you what happened and I'm going to keep on telling you every night, right here, until somebody does something about it.
Scenes with Gustav Briegleb
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Briegleb: Mrs. Collins, I have made it my mission in life to bring to light all the things the LAPD wish none of us ever knew about. A department ruled by violence, abuse, murder, corruption and intimidation. When Chief Davis took over the force two years ago, he said...
Davis: We will hold court against gunmen in the streets of Los Angeles. I want them brought in dead, not alive, and I will reprimand any officer who shows the least mercy to a criminal.
Briegleb: He picked fifty of the most violent cops on the force, gave them machine guns and permission to shoot anyone who got in their way. He called them the Gun Squad. No lawyers, no trials, no questions, no suspensions, no investigations. Just piles of bodies. Bodies in the morgues, bodies in the hospitals, bodies by the side of the road. And not because the LAPD wanted to wipe out crime. No. The LAPD wanted to wipe out the competition. Mayor Cryer and half the force are on the take. Gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, you name it. Because once you give people the freedom to do whatever they want, as the Lord found in the Garden of Eden, they will do exactly that. This police department does not tolerate dissent, or contradiction, or even embarrassment. And you are in a position to embarrass them and they do not like it. They will do anything in their power to discredit you. I've seen that happen too many times to start going blind now. That's why I wanted to meet you, to let you know what you're getting yourself into and to help you fight it, if you choose to.
Davis: We will hold court against gunmen in the streets of Los Angeles. I want them brought in dead, not alive, and I will reprimand any officer who shows the least mercy to a criminal.
Briegleb: He picked fifty of the most violent cops on the force, gave them machine guns and permission to shoot anyone who got in their way. He called them the Gun Squad. No lawyers, no trials, no questions, no suspensions, no investigations. Just piles of bodies. Bodies in the morgues, bodies in the hospitals, bodies by the side of the road. And not because the LAPD wanted to wipe out crime. No. The LAPD wanted to wipe out the competition. Mayor Cryer and half the force are on the take. Gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, you name it. Because once you give people the freedom to do whatever they want, as the Lord found in the Garden of Eden, they will do exactly that. This police department does not tolerate dissent, or contradiction, or even embarrassment. And you are in a position to embarrass them and they do not like it. They will do anything in their power to discredit you. I've seen that happen too many times to start going blind now. That's why I wanted to meet you, to let you know what you're getting yourself into and to help you fight it, if you choose to.
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Briegleb: I went to the best attorney in town, a man who's sued this city four times and won. Unfortunately, we can't afford to really hire him.
Christine: I see.
Hahn: Which is why I'm doing this pro bono. It would be my honor to defend your honor, Mrs. Collins. In my fifteen years as a lawyer, I have never seen anyone fight as long or as hard as you have, in what is so clearly in the cause of justice.
Christine: I see.
Hahn: Which is why I'm doing this pro bono. It would be my honor to defend your honor, Mrs. Collins. In my fifteen years as a lawyer, I have never seen anyone fight as long or as hard as you have, in what is so clearly in the cause of justice.
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Briegleb: Your son would want you to move on.
Christine: Maybe. Maybe he'd want me to keep looking for him. Maybe he's somewhere waiting for me.
Briegleb: I believe he is waiting, ma'am. He's waiting in that place where we'll all go someday to be reunited with our loved ones. And on that day, he'll know from front to back, end to end, heart to soul, that you did everything you could, Mrs. Collins. Everything.
Christine: Maybe. Maybe he'd want me to keep looking for him. Maybe he's somewhere waiting for me.
Briegleb: I believe he is waiting, ma'am. He's waiting in that place where we'll all go someday to be reunited with our loved ones. And on that day, he'll know from front to back, end to end, heart to soul, that you did everything you could, Mrs. Collins. Everything.