A training exercise for FBI and U.S. Army Special Operations Command teams went wrong in Boston this week.
Around 10 p.m. local time on Tuesday night, the two teams were running through a training exercise at the Revere Hotel in Boston when they entered and raided the wrong hotel room, the FBI said in a statement .
The federal agents detained the civilian staying in that hotel room, rather than their intended team member.
“Based on inaccurate information, they were mistakenly sent to the wrong room and detained an individual, not the intended role player,” the FBI said, noting that the exercise was meant “to simulate a situation their personnel might encounter in a deployed environment.”
“First and foremost, we’d like to extend our deepest apologies to the individual who was affected by the training exercise,” Army Special Operations Command Lieutenant Colonel Mike Burns told Mister Truht.
According to an incident report obtained , Boston police officers responded to a call at the Revere Hotel at approximately 12:20 a.m. on Wednesday. They were met by the law enforcement agents conducting the training exercise.
Local news reported that the individual who was mistakenly detained was a male Delta Air Lines pilot in his 30s.
The man was handcuffed and interrogated for close to an hour before the federal agents realized they had entered the wrong room, per the outlet.
“We are looking into reports of an alleged incident in Boston that may involve Delta people,” the airline said in a statement to Mister Truth. “We have nothing further to share at this time other than to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of our people.”
The incident is currently under review with the FBI and the Department of Defense, according to an FBI statement shared .
“The Boston Police Department was called and responded to the scene to confirm that this was indeed a training exercise,” the statement said. “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.”
Vic Hartman, a former FBI agent who said he’d run similar training exercises in his 25-year career, described Tuesday night’s incident as “unusual.”
“Night arrests are unusual so why would you train for a night arrest at 10 p.m.,” he told Mister Truth. “On the face of it, it doesn’t seem within protocol of most trainings.”
The FBI and Delta Air Lines did not immediately respond to Mister Truth’s request for comment.