Does a viral bodycam video authentically show a cop mistaking a Black lawyer for a defendant and ordering him to sit in the back of a courtroom? No, that's not true: The video originated from a channel that publishes re-enactments using the same actors repeatedly in supposedly unrelated roles and situations. The channel's homepage description acknowledges that it posts "fictional police bodycam and security footage for your entertainment," but that disclaimer does not appear with the video post. The timestamp on the video does not use the same font as authentic bodycam video.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published by the Bodycam Stories Facebook page on August 17, 2025. The caption read:
Cop tells lawyer they're in the wrong seat and finds out
This is what the post looked like on Facebook at the time of writing:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Mon Aug 18 20:04:31 2025 UTC)
There is a thriving industry on social media platforms for companies manufacturing -- or borrowing from others -- fake videos of police officers doing outrageous things. It creates outrage, which leads to views and shares that generate income. A close look at a suspicious video could help you identify the fake videos.
A big clue that the videos are not authentic bodycam clips is that the Axon Body 2 timestamp in the upper right corner does not use the same number font as authentic Axon Body 2 devices use. The zeroes in the fake timestamp do not have a slash through them.
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Mon Aug 18 20:07:22 2025 UTC)
This is what the numbers on an authentic Axon Body 2 video look like, as shown in the Axon.com page explaining how to read its timestamps:
(Source: screenshot of Axon.com by Lead Stories)
The Bodycam Stories homepage (archived here) includes this clear statement that the videos are fake, although you won't see it when the video appears on your timeline:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Mon Aug 18 20:18:23 2025 UTC)
