Citizen stopped twice by feds in Charlotte files for $1.25 million in damages
A United States citizen stopped by federal agents twice during Operation “Charlotte’s Web” has filed a claim for damages, which could lead to a lawsuit.
Willy Wender Aceituno had already joined a proposed class action lawsuit with four other people last month. On Tuesday, he sent his federal damages claim to the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
If Aceituno’s claim goes unanswered by the government, that could lead to yet another lawsuit being filed.
On the morning of Nov. 15, Aceituno traveled to work alone and stopped at a Honduran restaurant, Baleada Bar & Grille, the claim said. Four agents in masks and sunglasses approached him, questioned him and eventually left him alone when they learned he was a citizen, according to the claim and previous reporting by The Charlotte Observer.
Shortly after that incident, which lasted about 15 minutes, agents stopped Aceituno again.
“The second encounter escalated immediately,” the claim said.
An agent “aggressively” ordered Aceituno to open the window to his truck, it said. Agents then smashed the window with a baton, threw Aceituno onto the pavement, ignored him as he recounted the prior stop, handcuffed him, put him in an unmarked SUV, then drove him and others around in it for a while, the claim said.
It left him fearful, reminding him of his father being taken by Honduras’ government when he was a child and never returning, according to the claim.
“When Mr. Aceituno objected to the immigration agents’ treatment of the detainees (in the SUV), the immigration agent again told him to ‘shut up,’” the claim said. “Mr. Aceituno also continued to assert that he was a U.S. citizen. The agents told him to ‘shut up’ four times. The last time the agent told him to ‘shut up,’ the agent got so close to Mr. Aceituno’s face that spittle flew onto Mr. Aceituno’s face.”
Afraid, Aceituno quit talking, according to the claim.
Throughout his second incident with agents, he repeatedly told them to check the REAL ID in his wallet and confirm he was a citizen, the claim said. Agents dropped him off on the side of the road when they checked the ID.
The North Carolina ACLU, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and the law firm Tin Fulton Walker & Owen are representing Aceituno. He is asking for $1.25 million and alleging that the government violated his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, used illegal force and harmed him in other ways. He was traumatized, and his neck and arm are still injured, the claim said.
In response to Aceituno’s lawsuit with four other plaintiffs who alleged they were harassed, DHS previously said it “conducts enforcement operations in line with the U.S. Constitution and all applicable federal laws without fear, favor, or prejudice.”
The Observer also reached out to DHS about Aceituno’s damages claim.
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.