'Our bad. Have a good night': FBI mocked for interrogating Delta pilot after storming into wrong hotel room

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials entered the wrong Boston hotel room Tuesday, April 4, during a "training operation and mock interrogation," CBS News' WBZ-TV Investigation Team reports.

The officials stormed into the Revere Hotel room of a Delta airlines pilot, waking him in the middle of the night, handcuffing and interrogating him "for more than 45 minutes" before realizing he was the wrong suspect and "apologized," according to CBS.

@Imposter_Edits shared a report from CBS via Twitter, writing, "How does this happen!?! The feds were doing a training exercise in a hotel, they had a target set up to play the mark. Well, they went into the wrong hotel room where an oblivious airline pilot answered the door. They handcuffed the man and threw him into the shower and interrogated him for nearly an hour before he could convince them he was the wrong person! The pilot was apparently told he couldn't speak about the events that happened."

According to CBS paramedics were contacted "to evaluate the pilot, who refused treatment," and has not spoken on the matter, as he noted "he needed to speak to his employer before commenting."

An ex-FBI official, Vic Hartman, told WBZ-TV a "training exercise in public does not make sense to him."

He noted, "Night arrests are unusual so why would you train for a night arrest at 10 p.m. It's unusual, there could be a justification for it, it's just not apparent to me on the surface."

The FBI's official statement on the incident reads:

At approximately 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, the FBI Boston Division was assisting the U.S. Department of Defense in conducting a Department of Defense (DOD) training exercise at a hotel in Boston to simulate a situation their personnel might encounter in a deployed environment. Based on inaccurate information, they were mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player. Thankfully nobody was injured. The Boston Police Department was called and responded to the scene to confirm that this was indeed a training exercise. Safety is always a priority of the FBI, and our law enforcement partners, and we take these incidents very seriously. The Boston Division is reviewing the incident with DOD for further action as deemed appropriate.

Steve Riddle, another guest staying at the Revere, told WBZ-TV, "Somebody could have gotten shot, killed," adding, "It just makes you kind of wonder a little bit about the FBI and their outreach and what they can do to folks and you have no control over it. It's kind of creepy."

Social media users agree with Riddle.

Hannah Drake: "What gets me is they traumatize someone like this then take the handcuffs off and are like, 'Our bad. Have a good night.'"

@JennerJinks: "'Thankfully we didn't kill anyone this time.'"

Delania McLean: "So they're 'training' them to throw people in a shower to interrogate them without counsel or charges? Wow"

Ozzie: "Not verifying the address sounds like a typical police move…."

Regina Mas: "He's about to go from pilot to passenger of his own private jet after this payout."

Samuel Caldwell: "First thing on checklist: Confirm room number"

Gemini Cricket: "'No harm, no foul, right buddy? Heh heh.'"

@FunnyLikeAClown: "Ok, so this happened in the controlled environment of a training exercise here in the US. Now imagine how many times this sort of thing has happened during combat operations over the last two decades. What do you think the results to the people in the home may have been?"

@rowyourbot: "They need more training, apparently."

@mcslammin77: "The excuse illustrates the agency's willingness to abuse power on a whim. It is clearly a lie. A training exercise? What a load of shit!"