Administrative Claim Alleges Excessive Force, Unlawful Arrest During 2025 ICE Operation

Two Charlotte women have filed administrative claims seeking more than $2.5 million in damages from the federal government, alleging they were unlawfully arrested and subjected to excessive force during a 2025 immigration enforcement operation.

The claims, filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, were submitted in a 17-page letter on behalf of Tatyana Reisini and Kristen Roos against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Border Patrol and other federal agencies involved in the operation.

According to the letter, the incident occurred on Nov. 17, 2025, during Operation Charlotte's Web, a large-scale immigration enforcement operation conducted in the Charlotte area.

Reisini and Roos said they went to observe immigration enforcement activity after hearing agents were operating in east Charlotte. The women were on their way to a Christmas show when they stopped at a shopping center parking lot to protest federal agents carrying out their duties, according to the letter.

"As other vehicles began making noise to alert to the presence of the immigration agents, Tatyana honked her car horn and Kristen blew a whistle. In response to the commotion, Tatyana and Kristen saw the immigration agents recording them and other observers," the letter said.

Partial video of the encounter, recorded by a bystander, shows the women's SUV parked in a marked parking space on a residential street in someone's driveway during part of the initial encounter with federal agents.

The claim alleges the women first left the parking lot but realized they were being followed by unmarked federal vehicles. During a 911 call, Reisini told a dispatcher they were trying to reach a police station because they believed they were being followed but did not pull over.

According to the letter, the women eventually turned onto a dead-end street, where federal agents surrounded their vehicle.

The claim states Reisini told the 911 operator, "We need help right now," before an agent allegedly broke the driver's side window with the barrel of a rifle. The filing says both women were removed from the SUV, restrained, and taken to the FBI office in Charlotte. The video shows the driver refused to open the car window for the armed law enforcement agents.

Federal prosecutors later charged both women with assaulting federal officers under 18 U.S.C. § 111. Court records show the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of NC voluntarily dismissed the charges on March 2, 2026.

The administrative claim alleges false arrest, false imprisonment, assault and battery, malicious prosecution, negligent supervision, and violations of the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

The women are seeking $1,250,411.90 in damages for Reisini and $1.25 million for Roos, in addition to attorney fees and other relief allowed by law, according to the attorneys from the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. 

An administrative claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act is required before a lawsuit may be filed against the federal government. Federal agencies have an opportunity to review and respond to the claims before any litigation proceeds.

Federal agencies had not publicly responded to the claims as of publication.