Border agents arrested Charlotte man for documenting them, friends, partner say

Ryan Oehrli and Jeff Siner, The Charlotte Observer on Nov 18, 2025

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Federal immigration agents arrested a man who documented their activities in Charlotte on Tuesday, his friends told The Charlotte Observer.

It happened Tuesday afternoon at the parking lot of the Eastway Crossing Shopping Center, they said. The man’s lawyer said he’s concerned because the FBI won’t let him visit his client, and details are sparse.

Joshua Long was trying to “deter agents from terrorizing our community,” said Gabrielle Sorge, who is his partner.

His friend, Lucy Selby, said they were all watching agents and alerting neighbors. They followed agents into the parking lot, and then agents blocked them in with their vehicles.

“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 the reason he was arrested was simple.

“He was in line with everything we’re supposed to be doing: Keeping a distance and just documenting what’s happening,” Sorge said. “I think that that’s what happened. He was documenting, and they didn’t like that. For some reason, it was Josh. I don’t know why.”

Lawyer not allowed to see him, he says

Attorney Xavier T. de Janon told The Charlotte Observer later on Tuesday afternoon that he is representing Long, and that FBI personnel blocked him from seeing his client.

De Janon does not know what charges Long is facing — if any — he said. He described Long as a “verifier.”

Someone with the FBI informed him that the agency will not be allowing lawyers to visit with people facing such arrests until they have been questioned and processed, de Janon said.

“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,” he said. “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.”

Others arrested for protesting Border Patrol have also been taken to the FBI office, de Janon said.

Charlotte FBI spokesperson Shelley Lynch did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As part of immigration enforcement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said agents had arrested 200 people in Charlotte, but identified just 11 of them as of Tuesday afternoon. Agents in masks have approached people at public places like shopping centers, big box store parking lots, and at a church.

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