Two North Carolina Women Are Suing The Government For Violating Their 1st, 4th, and 5th Amendment Rights
“The federal government must be held accountable for the abusive and unlawful conduct of its agents,” Janki Kaneria at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which filed the lawsuit, said in a statement.
Photo: Unsplash Immigration ICE
For most of this cursed Trump presidency, ICE have produced some truly alarming headlines—but still, there are many, many disgusting details lurking in the shadows that we may never know about.
Unless, that is, they emerge in a lawsuit—like on Monday, when two women from North Carolina sued the federal government for claims and damages after they… exercised their right to protest ICE’s presence in their town. Because, sure, that’s how free speech works!
Per a 17-page court filing, Tatyana Reisini and Kristen Roos—both American citizens—are claiming their First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights were violated when they were arrested by federal agents in November, during Operation Charlotte Web, one of several ICE operations conducted in Democrat-led cities in 2025.
“The federal government must be held accountable for the abusive and unlawful conduct of its agents,” Janki Kaneria, Counsel for Justice System Reform at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice—which filed the lawsuit—said in a statement. “The video of the agents’ outrageous behavior here speaks for itself. This notice is the first step in seeking some measure of accountability.”
The lawsuit claims that Reisini and Roos were on their way to a Christmas show on November 17, 2025—two days after Operation Charlotte’s Web began—when they noticed a dirty car with an out-of-state license plate. They noticed it was full of federal agents, then honked their car horn and blew a whistle, a not-uncommon practice to warn nearby communities that ICE agents were around. They were then chased down by the federal agents, and boxed in by others. Brandishing an assault rifle and eventually using it to smash open the car window, ICE agents then approached their car. Reisini and Roos were apparently zip-tied and taken to an FBI building for about four hours, and charged with “assaulting” federal agents. These charges were dropped in March—but the lawsuit claims the experience left them with “physical, emotional, and psychological harm.” The lawsuit says also that Roos was 10 days post-surgery when all this happened.
The lawsuit names assault, battery, false imprisonment, false arrest, and malicious prosecution. It seeks more than $1.25 million in damages for each Reisini and Roos, along with attorney fees.
“Immigration agents falsely imprisoned and falsely arrested Ms. Reisini and Ms. Roos without legal justification or authority,” the lawsuit reads. “After the traumatic encounter with immigration agents, both women endured having the encounter spread across the internet.”
Of course, the DHS has a very different story—saying to El Pais that the two women engaged in “reckless” pursuit, that the “driver” was “erratically [going] through residential neighborhoods,” and agents “used the minimum force necessary to protect the public.” Which anyone with eyes and ears will by now know… is nothing short of bullshit.
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