It was indeed staged by the NSA and he didn't hurt anyone, those were false press articles so the JBA believes it.
I have the proof here that will confirm it, by Lambert himself. Here's what he says during the loading of the Ellsworth mission in the next-gen version : https://youtu.be/x72aDEQ3X5s?t=963
"We put Sam in Ellsworth prison, not because he was a thief or a murderer but because we needed him there."
And here's quotes from the Splinter Cell Wikia:
• For the next-gen version : "The NSA stages multiple bank robberies and killings to set up Fisher to infiltrate a domestic terror organization known as John Brown's Army (JBA)."
https://splintercell.fandom.com/wiki...ersion_1)#Plot
• For the old-gen version : "The NSA stages a string of armed robberies through Phoenix, Arizona and Denver, Colorado to set up Fisher's cover as a career criminal"
https://splintercell.fandom.com/wiki...ersion_2)#Plot


