Man documenting Border Patrol in Charlotte arrested, freed Tuesday from FBI office
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Border Patrol in Charlotte
U.S. Border Patrol began making rounds in Charlotte on Saturday morning.
This follows recent Border Patrol activity in Chicago that made headlines, with some reports alleging agents violated people’s rights.
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A man who alerted others to federal immigration agents’ location was cornered in a parking lot, arrested by them and held in an FBI office for about six hours, he and others told The Charlotte Observer. His attorney said he was not allowed to speak with his client.
Since Border Patrol agents arrived in the Queen City, volunteers have tracked their movements and updated the community through social media and messaging apps.
One of those volunteers, Joshua Long, said he was charged with simple assault on a federal officer, and that he was told he “skimmed (agents’) car while trying to evade them.”
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that agents “arrested this US citizen for vehicular assault against a federal agent.”
Long, his friends and his significant other said that is not true.
When he emerged from the FBI office on Microsoft Way around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Long had a fresh scab on his head. It was apparently from agents pinning him down on concrete. They also pointed a gun at him, he said.
His loved ones, some overcome with feeling and brought to tears, gave a raucous applause when they saw him again.
“I told them exactly why we were out there: That we’re there to keep Border Patrol accountable, and to not let them operate in illegal manners by driving around and just snatching people,” Long told the Observer.
What happened
The ordeal started Tuesday afternoon at the Eastway Crossing shopping center’s parking lot.
Long’s friend, Lucy Selby, said that they were watching agents and alerting people. They followed agents into the lot, and the agents responded by blocking them in with vehicles, she said.
“We just drove right over here, came in and they had him on the ground,” said another friend who was there, Miriam Guzzardi. “He was doing everything they were asking of him. It was very clear to us that they were trying to get him in their car as quickly as possible.”
They believed that agents had a simple reason for arresting him.
“He was in line with everything we’re supposed to be doing: Keeping a distance and just documenting what’s happening,” said his partner, Gabrielle Sorge. “I think that that’s what happened. He was documenting, and they didn’t like that.”
Long said that he at first tried to get away from the agents and called 911.
“I eventually just stopped, and then they pulled me from my car after they pointed a gun at me, and arrested me on the ground,” he said.
They did not read him his rights or tell him why they were arresting him, he said.
“I cooperated because I didn’t want it to get out of hand,” he said.
At the FBI office, he sat handcuffed in a waiting room and shared his side of the story as Border Patrol agents gave theirs, he said. In the meantime, he said he had some decent conversations with people working at the office.
He has a court date in May, he said.
Attorney concerned after being denied access
Long’s attorney, Xavier T. de Janon, said he was blocked from speaking to his client at the FBI’s office.
Before he could even get through the security gate on Tuesday afternoon, an FBI agent told him that attorneys would not be allowed to speak with clients there anymore, he said. They also could not talk over the phone.
“Criminal defendants’ access to counsel is one of the most fundamental rights in this country, so if a criminal defense attorney cannot visit someone who’s been accused of a crime while they’re being questioned, investigated, then their fundamental rights are being violated,” de Janon told the Observer. “There are, of course, instances where the right to counsel can be limited. But in this situation, I don’t even have a police report, a case number, a booking number, an investigation open.”
Charlotte FBI spokesperson Shelley Lynch said in a short message that the FBI is adhering to the law.
Long’s friends said they were outraged by his arrest and its implications.
“He is all of us. We are all him, and this could happen to any of us — regardless of our race, socioeconomic status, citizenship,” said one of the friends, Guzzardi. “This is happening to everybody in our community, and I don’t understand why anybody would be anything less than outraged. This is horrible.”
The Department of Homeland Security said it had arrested more than 250 undocumented immigrants in Charlotte as of Tuesday night. DHS has released only a fraction of those people’s names.
The U.S. Border Patrol’s operation in Charlotte followed one in Chicago, which came after a September U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing federal agents to stop and detain anyone they suspect is in the U.S. illegally based on little more than speaking Spanish or having brown skin, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Man documenting Border Patrol in Charlotte arrested, freed Tuesday from FBI office."
