Two Charlotte women file federal claims against immigration agents after Operation Charlotte’s Web arrests

Two Charlotte mothers are seeking federal accountability after immigration agents followed them, boxed in their vehicle, smashed a car window with a rifle barrel, and arrested them at gunpoint during Operation Charlotte’s Web in November 2025, according to a news release from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.

Tatyana Reisini and Kristen Roos had been monitoring and documenting federal immigration activity in their neighborhood on November 17, 2025, when agents pursued them to a dead-end street, SCSJ said. An agent smashed the driver’s side window with the barrel of his rifle while it was pointed directly at Reisini, scattering glass inside the vehicle and on her body, according to the release. Both women were zip-tied and held in custody for hours. Roos was 10 days post-surgery at the time of her arrest, SCSJ said.

The women were criminally charged with assaulting a federal agent. The U.S. Attorney’s Office voluntarily dismissed the charges roughly three and a half months later, according to SCSJ.

On July 20, SCSJ initiated the process of seeking accountability under the Federal Tort Claims Act against U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other Department of Homeland Security agencies, the release said. Claims against the agents include assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, malicious prosecution and violations of the women’s First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, according to SCSJ.

“The federal government must be held accountable for the abusive and unlawful conduct of its agents,” said Janki Kaneria, Durham-based Counsel for Justice System Reform at SCSJ. “The video of the agents’ outrageous behavior here speaks for itself.”

Jake Sussman, Chief Counsel for Justice System Reform at SCSJ, called the agents’ behavior “abusive, bullying, and dangerous.”

“We are proud of our clients for their courage in standing up for themselves and others who have suffered this type of abuse,” he said.

Operation Charlotte’s Web brought a surge of federal immigration agents into the Charlotte area beginning November 15, 2025, for nearly a week, according to SCSJ. Video of the arrest spread widely online, garnering nearly nine million views on Facebook, the release said.