Fact Check: Does resurfaced clip shows FBI Director exposing widespread police corruption?
WASHINGTON, DC: In January 2026, a more than decade-old video resurfaced online in Thai social media posts claiming that it shows the FBI Director exposing widespread police corruption.
The video, showing police officers breaking a car window and ordering the driver to get out, was shared across different social media platforms in mid-January.
Claim: Clip shows FBI Director exposing widespread police corruption
The clip, which was originally shared on TikTok, had a Thai-language voiceover where the voice could be heard saying that the man in the video is the director of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, who had been 'systematically documenting corruption'.
"The man was dragged out and handcuffed. The officers opened the trunk, hoping to plant false evidence -- but instead, they found federal case files. Inside were the names and faces of every officer involved," the voiceover further says.
It also adds, "The man in handcuffs was not a suspect -- he was their highest-ranking superior."
The Thai-language caption also says it was filmed at a border checkpoint in the United States, and added, "Thai police should face something like this too, as should corrupt government officials."
Fact Check: The video was posted by Robert Trudell in September 2014
The claims made in the online posts are false, as the driver in the video does not resemble either the current FBI Director Kash Patel or his predecessors.
Moreover, there have also been no official reports of an undercover FBI operation revealing widespread corruption among police in the United States.
Further search regarding the viral clip showed that it was part of a YouTube video posted by a person named Robert Trudell back in September 2014. The footage used in the social media posts seems to be a cropped and mirrored version of the YouTube video.
The original YouTube video has the title - Robert Trudell rides into Pine Valley, California - US Border Patrol Checkpoint, Refuses Search.
As per the video's description, the incident took place on May 31, 2013, at a US Border Patrol checkpoint near Pine Valley, California. Trudell mentioned that an officer broke the car window before other officers searched the vehicle without a warrant.
Furthermore, Trudell's YouTube channel contains several videos of similar encounters with officers at checkpoints. During a 2014 episode of the US public radio show 'This American Life' about similar 'checkpoint refusal' videos, Trudell said he was testing the system to better understand it.
He said, "Because I'm close to it, I'm surrounded by it. I can't go anywhere without going through this system. And the people in the community I'm in are trapped in it."
