Charlotte Church Goers Flee Border Patrol Raid—’We Thought Church Was Safe’

Members of a church in east Charlotte, North Carolina, fled to nearby woods on Saturday after masked federal agents arrived and detained one congregant, according to a report from The Charlotte Observer, amid the ongoing immigration crackdown taking place in the city.

“We thought church was safe and nothing [was] gonna happen,” a 15-year-old witness told the newspaper. “But it did happen.”

Newsweek contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) outside of regular working hours for comment on the operation in Charlotte.