Sheriff Garry McFadden of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, said federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested someone at the county courthouse Wednesday.

Two lawyers who saw the agents said the situation created fear and safety concerns.

The sheriff witnessed the arrest, he said in a Thursday news release.

“Around noon, a concerned citizen alerted me that there were three individuals — who were not clearly identified as ICE agents or law enforcement — handcuffing a man and escorting him to an unmarked vehicle,” the sheriff said.

McFadden went there and saw it, he said, and talked to ICE officials.

“While the MCSO fully respects and recognizes the authority of ICE to carry out its duties, it is also the responsibility of the Sheriff’s Office to make certain that all law enforcement actions conducted on courthouse property are done safely, transparently, and in coordination with our office,” he said.

The sheriff offered his phone number to agents and is putting together a policy for “any future apprehensions on courthouse grounds,” he said.

It’s unclear whom ICE arrested. The federal agency did not immediately comment Thursday, and McFadden’s spokesperson, Sarah Mastouri, said the sheriff’s office does not know the man’s name.

“It brings so much fear for clients, for victims, for friends and family,” said Eddie Thomas, who oversees the violent crimes unit at the public defender’s office, and who saw McFadden speaking with the ICE agents. “There has to be a better way to do this than the way they’re doing this — for safety reasons.”

‘It’s very unusual’

There had been “buzz” and phone calls and texts about ICE agents being near the courthouse earlier in the day, Thomas said.

When he heard they were back, he and a coworker went outside, he said. They saw three or four agents who were wearing jeans in the breezeway near the victim assistance and probation offices. He remembered one agent wearing a badge, but he did not see any on the others.

Thomas said he saw McFadden speaking with the agents, and the sheriff was “visibly upset.”

McFadden did not respond to a phone call from The Charlotte Observer on Thursday.

“Having people who are in plain clothes, who don’t identify themselves, who are frankly not acting in the most friendly and respectful manner, having them snatch people up — it causes a lot of fear,” Thomas said.

In his 13 years at the public defender’s office, Wednesday’s arrest stood out as “very unusual.” He recalled one or two times something similar happened during President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.

Michael Kabakoff, another attorney in the public defender’s office, said he saw the agents as he walked to work in the morning and that nothing identified them as law enforcement.

“From a safety perspective, it’s a very concerning situation. A person approached and physically detained by these men could have no idea that they are federal agents, and that could lead to dangerous — and avoidable — confrontations,” he said in an email to The Charlotte Observer.

He said he was also concerned that word of ICE operations outside the courthouse could cause people who are undocumented or people worried that they would be mistaken for someone undocumented to avoid going near the courthouse to avoid being arrested “and detained indefinitely.

“These include domestic violence victims seeking protective orders, crucial trial witnesses, and people with all varieties of important legal issues to handle.”

Similar arrest in Virginia the day before

In Virginia on Tuesday, plainclothes ICE agents detained two men at the Albemarle County courthouse, Virginia Public Media reported.

An assistant public defender there identified one man detained as Teodoro Dominguez Rodriguez. It was unclear whom the second person was.

“None of us saw any identification, any badges, and no one said they had a warrant, showed a warrant, or identified themselves as law enforcement. And one, as seen in the video, is clearly hiding his identity,” Assistant Public Defender Nicholas Reppucci told VPM.

The local sheriff said agents identified themselves with their badges and federal credentials to a bailiff.

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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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