CBP agents arrested two Charlotte women for honking at immigration vehicles during Operation Charlotte's Web

On November 17, 2025, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested two U.S. citizen women in Charlotte, North Carolina who had been honking a car horn and blowing a whistle near a CBP vehicle during "Operation Charlotte's Web," a multi-day federal immigration enforcement sweep in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Tatyana Reisini and Kristen Roos had set out to observe and document the agents' operations when CBP vehicles boxed in Reisini's 2019 Acura SUV on Central Avenue in east Charlotte's Plaza Midwood neighborhood. An agent then smashed the driver-side window with the barrel of an assault rifle while others surrounded the vehicle and screamed commands at the occupants. Both women were removed from the car, had their hands zip-tied behind their backs, and were transported to an FBI building in Charlotte where they were held for approximately four hours before being dropped off at a nearby Waffle House.

Reisini and Roos were each issued criminal citations charging them with assaulting a federal officer. Video of the arrest — including footage from a neighbor's Ring doorbell camera and bystanders — spread widely on social media and was authenticated by WBTV and other local outlets. Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden confirmed federal agents had notified him of the operation days in advance. Operation Charlotte's Web ultimately resulted in more than 425 arrests across the region, according to federal officials. A DHS spokesperson disputed the women's account, claiming the agents faced a "dangerous situation" and that the driver had engaged in "reckless evasion" — a characterization at odds with the charges being subsequently dropped.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina voluntarily dismissed all charges against both women in March 2026, without explanation. Reisini and Roos are both U.S. citizens; the complaint filed on their behalf through the Southern Coalition for Social Justice described them as attending the operation to witness and document agents' conduct — activity courts have repeatedly recognized as constitutionally protected.

Updates

2026-07-20 — Reisini and Roos filed Federal Tort Claims Act claims seeking $2.5 million [2, 3]

Attorneys with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed federal damages claims on behalf of both women under the Federal Tort Claims Act. Each claim seeks $1.25 million in compensation from the U.S. government, naming U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and other DHS agencies. The claims allege false imprisonment, false arrest, assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution, and violations of the women's First and Fourth Amendment rights.