Angry crowds surround federal immigration agents during Charlotte raid

Screams and whistles stuffed a wooded strip of Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday as protesters surrounded federal brokers finishing up Operation Charlotte’s Net, a Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) mission aimed toward arresting folks on felony immigration warrants.

DHS mentioned Friday it had despatched “legislation enforcement sources” to town to seize “felony unlawful aliens terrorizing Individuals.” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin mentioned the trouble was meant to “remove threats to public security and restore order.”

On Saturday afternoon, video from the scene confirmed indignant residents shouting, “Get the rattling factor out of my city!” as Border Patrol and Homeland Safety brokers pushed by timber through the operation.

“F— you! Go away!” one protester shouted, waving his arms at a gaggle of officers in tactical gear. One other shouted: ‘Our city – not yours!

A protester yells at federal brokers throughout a Homeland Safety operation in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 16, 2025. Protesters confronted Border Patrol brokers and Homeland Safety brokers as they looked for a person throughout Operation Charlotte’s Net, a federal immigration enforcement mission. (Oliya Scootercaster (FreedomNewsTV))

CHARLOTTE PROMISES TO STAND OUT AGAINST ONGOING FEDERAL IMMIGRATION RAIDS: ‘CAMPAIGN OF TERROR’

An officer held up a gasoline canister, turned and shouted again: ‘That is tear gasoline! Do not comply with us anymore!’

In one other tense second captured on video, an agent figuring out himself as Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) tried to calm the group as protesters surrounded him with telephone cameras rolling.

Feminine protester: ‘How have you learnt they’re unlawful earlier than you handcuff them? That is a violation of the Fourth Modification!’

HSI agent: ‘Our job right here is to guard the individuals who perform enforcement. We’re sure by what is cheap beneath the legislation.”

Feminine protester: “You are detaining folks promoting flowers, man. Households. That is not a menace.’

HSI agent: ‘I perceive your frustration. However this is not a dialog the place everyone seems to be shouting at one another.’

The forwards and backwards continued for a number of minutes till the officer walked away to a different officer who was establishing a drone.

WATCH: Protester confronts HSI agent over immigration arrests throughout operation in Charlotte

A Border Patrol agent holds a tear gasoline canister as he strikes by a wooded space throughout Operation Charlotte’s Net in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 16, 2025. Federal officers from Homeland Safety and Border Patrol clashed with protesters as they looked for a person through the immigration enforcement mission. (Oliya Scootercaster (FreedomNewsTV))

CHARLOTTE SUPPORTS ENFORCEMENT OF FEDERAL IMMIGRATION AS HIGH RATE RISES 200% IN UPTOWN AREA

At one level a protester shouted, “Seventy % of the folks you catch are non-violent!” One other shouted: “You tear households aside for nothing!”

Operation Charlotte’s Net comes as town faces intensified investigations into violent crimes.

Division of Homeland Safety Investigations officers function a drone in quest of two people who fled the scene after being apprehended whereas promoting flowers on the aspect of the highway on November 16, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Pictures)

Murders and aggravated assaults have risen sharply this yr, prompting Republican lawmakers to induce Democratic Gov. Josh Stein to deploy the Nationwide Guard. For now, the governor has resisted that decision from Republican lawmakers, and native officers have argued that public security stays an area duty.

‘Just lately, town suffered eight murders in seven days. The murder price in downtown Charlotte is now 200% greater than a yr in the past,” a letter from three Republican lawmakers. “In keeping with the Fraternal Order of PoliceThe variety of critical assaults involving knives or firearms elevated from 86 in 2024 to 111 in 2025, and the variety of private robberies involving robust weapons elevated from 26 to 31 over the identical interval.”

A photograph of illuminated buildings that type the skyline of Charlotte, North Carolina. (Andrea Evangelo-Giamou/EyeEm through Getty Pictures)

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Charlotte is a racially various metropolis with greater than 900,000 residents, together with greater than 150,000 who have been foreign-born, the Related Press reported, citing native officers. Fox Information Digital has reached out to the Division of Homeland Safety and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Sheriff’s Workplace for remark.

Leo Briceno and Elizabeth Elkind of Fox Information Digital contributed to this report.