Man documenting Border Patrol in Charlotte arrested, freed Tuesday from FBI office

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

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Federal immigration agents arrested a man who documented their activities in Charlotte on Tuesday, his friends told The Charlotte Observer. He was freed from an FBI office six hours later and disputed claims by the federal government about what transpired.

It happened Tuesday afternoon at the parking lot of the Eastway Crossing Shopping Center, they said.

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. ”

Joshua Long released

In response to an inquiry from The Charlotte Observer, an unsigned media relations email from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security alleged that Long was arrested “for vehicular assault against a federal agent.”

Long said that isn’t true.

He was released from the FBI office in southwest Charlotte around 6:30 p.m. to loved ones and supporters outside and said in an interview he was charged with simple assault on a federal officer.

Federal officers accused Long of skimming their car when he was trying to evade them. But Long said he was following the agents to alert people they were in the area. Officers started coming after him, Long said, and started driving aggressively. And he tried to maneuver around when an officer cornered him in a dead end with his SUV. Long said agents eventually pointed a gun at him and pulled him from his vehicle and arrested him on the ground.

He said that’s when he got a small wound on his forehead that was scabbing over by the time he was released. As Long recalled the events, a friend who watched the incident said Long never scraped the agent’s vehicle.

“I didn’t want it to get out of hand, so I cooperated,” Long said. “And they brought me here. I’ve been here since about 1 o’clock.”

For most of the afternoon and early evening, he sat handcuffed in an interview room, he said. He spoke with FBI agents to convey his point of view on the incident, he said.

He was released after the agents went between him and Border Patrol for information about what happened, he said.

Long was greeted outside by his attorney, Xavier T. De Janon and Long’s partner and friends who were there when he was arrested.

“I’m feeling horrified that an innocent person was held for six hours and disappeared from the world,” de Janon said.

It was the first time the attorney and Long had met that day. An FBI agent told de Janon that people arrested could not see their lawyers, de Janon said. He had waited to see Long since 3:50 p.m. outside the FBI office on Microsoft Way.

Long said he was not told a lawyer was looking to meet with him. He would have requested to see de Janon if he had known, Long said.

Long is scheduled to appear in court in May, he said.

Lawyer discusses access to counsel

Earlier Tuesday, de Janon told the Observer he was concerned that the FBI would not allow him to see Long.

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 said in a short statement that the FBI is adhering to the law.

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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(Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.)

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