‘Don’t touch me!’ ICE agents aimed guns at his head in Charlotte, US citizen says

The owner of a small Charlotte construction business said ICE agents smashed the windows of his truck, aimed guns at his head and “violently” removed him from the vehicle because of the color of his skin.

At a news conference Friday, Atilio Portillo said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents handcuffed him and kept him in custody for a half hour as they confirmed his status Wednesday morning. Portillo said he was driving near the intersection of Idlewild Road and Idlebrook Drive when agents in unmarked vehicles surrounded his work truck just after 7 a.m. Wednesday.

“Get out of the car now!” an agent shouts at Portillo, according to an Instagram video of the encounter released Friday by Siembra NC., a grassroots advocacy group.

“I’m a U.S. citizen!” Portillo tells the agents. “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me!”

An ICE spokesperson said agents were after his brother, who was in the truck. Ricardo Portillo Guzman of El Salvador allegedly entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown location on March 1, 1988, and later obtained a green card, the spokesperson said in a statement.

According to ICE, Guzman’s criminal history includes felony selling amphetamine, felony carrying a prohibited weapon, felony carrying a concealed weapon and animal conservation and cruelty.

“He will remain in custody pending his removal proceedings and will receive due process,” the ICE spokesperson said. “This administration will not ignore the rule of law.”

Portillo declined to discuss his brother’s case. He focused on his mistreatment as a U.S. citizen, saying the agents ignored him repeatedly when he told them he was a resident and when he asked if they had a warrant or other reason to detain him.

In Spanish, Portillo told reporters Friday that the reason he wasn’t injured was because “I wasn’t doing anything physically threatening” and didn’t resist.

The video doesn’t show Portillo being removed from the truck, only after he’s out of the truck when agents are seen grabbing his arms to handcuff him.

The incident was so upsetting that he didn’t remember to show the agents the U.S. passport he carries in his pocket because of past ICE actions in Charlotte and elsewhere across the country, Portillo said Friday.

In the video, Portillo says he and his brother have worked together all of their lives.

“I mean, I can’t remember a time we haven’t been together,” Portillo said. “And now, well, that won’t be possible.”

Portillo said it’s OK if ICE “goes after criminals, because there are criminals, you can’t deny that. But not people who are out working, who get up at 5 a.m. on an empty stomach, in the cold, in the heat, working for their families, for their kids.”

The ICE spokesperson didn’t respond to the Observer’s query about ICE’s treatment of Portillo at the scene.

“ICE law enforcement officers are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve dangerous situations to prioritize the safety of the public and our officers,” according to the ICE statement. “Officers are highly trained in de-escalation tactics and regularly receive ongoing use of force training.”

Portillo said he’s considering legal action because ICE “abused my rights.”

“I haven’t slept for two nights,” he said.

He said he is a U.S. citizen who has lived here since 1988 and raised his family in Charlotte.

“They all ran around the whole vehicle, on both sides, and started yelling at me to roll down the windows,” Portillo says in the video. “Then they broke my windows … pulled out guns and pointed them straight at my head.”

Portillo said the experience left him “shaken.”

During the 2025 Border Patrol operation in Charlotte, he stopped working for two weeks, fearing an encounter with federal agents, he said.

“I never imagined something like this could happen to me,” he said. “How am I supposed to feel safe going to work?”

The ballot box may be the answer to claims of mistreatment by ICE, State Rep. Jordan Lopez, D-Mecklenburg, said during the news conference

“It’s frustrating that we’re back in this situation again,” Lopez said at Friday’s news conference. “It’s ridiculous you still have ICE agents operating the way they did.”

He called it another case of racial profiling of persons who are brown.

“It’s a good reminder that elections are going on right now,” he said. “Do whatever you can to put this administration in check.”