Over 200 arrested in 3 days in Charlotte by Border Patrol, Homeland Security says
Published in News & Features
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The U.S. Border Patrol arrested over 200 people between Saturday and Monday since armed federal agents wearing masks and paramilitary gear arrived in Charlotte over the weekend, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
That’s up from the 130 the department said it made in its first two days in Charlotte.
DHS has said the arrests were for charges including gang membership, aggravated assault, possession of dangerous weapon and other violent and nonviolent charges.
The agency has not released most names or paperwork, so claims could not be verified. Border Patrol has not said where people arrested are being held or where they were taken.
In a press release Monday, DHS identified 11 of the 130 people it said were arrested over the weekend. DHS said two men were gang members. Manuel Vasquez-Gavarrete was accused of being a member of the 18th Street Gang and Humberto Pozada-Rodriguez, a member of MS-13, the statement said.
The arrests were part of Border Patrol’s operation called “Charlotte’s Web.” A reference to the children’s novel by E.B. White, Border Patrol has arrested people at restaurants, grocery stores, Home Depot parking lots and an east Charlotte church as part of its operation. The city’s immigrant communities in north, east, and south Charlotte have primarily been targeted since arriving Saturday morning.
Agents have been met by protesters while making arrests and at the DHS office in southwest Charlotte. People have organized to hand out whistles to help alert neighbors to the presence of ICE and Border Patrol. And students at some Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools protested Tuesday morning.
Border Patrol operations continued in Charlotte on Tuesday while some agents are reportedly being sent to Raleigh.
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