CHARLOTTE — East Charlotte is one of the most diverse parts of the city, and residents knew that it would not take long for the Border Patrol to visit.
Scenes like the one in the video above were repeated all over Charlotte, but the most aggressive action occurred in east Charlotte.
“In my mind, I’m like, it’s too early in the morning. Why is he running?” said Jonathan Martinez, a resident.
Martinez is a lifelong east Charlotte resident. Video he shot shows Border Patrol taking someone into custody along Central Avenue.
He also looked across the street at a tire shop and noticed agents pull into the parking lot there.
“I see a guy running from the tire shop being chased by two other guys with Border Patrol uniforms and taking him down to the ground,” he said.
Workers in the Tacos El Nevado Mexican restaurant were surprised when out of nowhere agents drove up on two men who had just gotten off a CATS bus. In a video, you can see the men take off running.
“We were just speechless,” a witness said. “We were in shock looking at what we were witnessing at that moment. It was a moment for all of us, nobody was saying anything.”
Video shows one of the men being detained.
While some in the community welcome this kind of enforcement action, others are terrified by it.
“First of all, I feel very, very sad because we have a lot of fear right not,” the witness said. “We cannot live a normal life.”
“I’m like, this is not right,” Martinez said. “First thing in the morning, people are going to work. The guy at the tire shop is making a living, he’s not hurting nobody.”
So far there haven’t been any reports of any major clashes. We can tell you that some agents have been cussed out, but that is the extent of it as far as we know.
VIDEO: Charlotte organizers considering peaceful protests ahead of Customs and Border Protection rollout
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
