Trump Voter Who Regrets His Ballot Sues After ICE Smashed His Window, Dragged Him Through Broken Glass and Left Him Bleeding

Willy Wender Aceituno voted for Donald Trump. He said he believed in the president's promises on border security and the economy. Four months after Trump returned to the White House, armed and masked federal agents smashed the window of Aceituno's truck, dragged him out over broken glass, handcuffed him, and drove him around Charlotte before confirming—for the second time—that he was a naturalised American citizen with no criminal record. 'It was the worst decision of my life,' Aceituno said of his vote for Trump.

On 3 March 2026, Aceituno filed federal damages claims against the Department of Homeland Security, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement and US Customs and Border Protection, under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The claims were submitted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and Tin Fulton Walker & Owen. Aceituno, 46, a naturalised citizen from Honduras, is seeking $1.25 million (approximately £923,000) in damages.

Stopped Twice Within Minutes

According to the claim, Aceituno was in a restaurant car park on 15 November 2025, picking up a food order before work, when four masked Border Patrol agents surrounded him and backed him against a vehicle. They asked whether he was a citizen and requested his identification. Aceituno provided a REAL ID. After roughly 15 minutes, the agents confirmed he was a US citizen with no criminal record before allowing him to leave.

Five minutes later, as Aceituno returned to his red 1998 F-150 truck, two unmarked vehicles blocked him in. Three immigration agents got out, one approaching the driver's side window with a baton and demanding he roll it down. Aceituno insisted he was a US citizen and had already identified himself to other agents moments earlier. The agents shattered his window.

Bleeding and in pain, he was handcuffed, placed into an unmarked SUV, and driven around Charlotte for approximately 15 minutes before the agents once again confirmed he was a US citizen. He was dropped off more than two miles from his vehicle—without his keys, medical assistance, or any explanation. He walked more than 20 minutes back to his truck, then spent hours filing a police report and seeking medical treatment.

'I told them, 'I'm an American citizen,'' Aceituno said. 'They wanted to know where I was born, or they didn't believe I was an American citizen.'

'That Is Not Law Enforcement'

The incident took place during DHS's 'Operation Charlotte's Web', which deployed a surge of immigration agents into Charlotte and other parts of North Carolina on 15 November 2025, netting more than 425 arrests and prompting widespread community fear and disruption.

The legal claims filed on Aceituno's behalf include false arrest, unlawful detention, assault, excessive force, infliction of emotional distress, interference with personal property, negligent supervision, and violations of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. 'Mr Aceituno's full account is harrowing,' said Michele Delgado, staff attorney at the ACLU of North Carolina. 'What he was subjected to is not law enforcement — it's abuse.'

DHS pushed back on Aceituno's account. The department wrote on X that during the enforcement operation, Aceituno 'became erratic, refused lawful commands, and had to be removed from his vehicle.' Aceituno denied interfering with the agents. 'I was talking to them, not restraining them,' he said. 'They're security officials of the United States, the most powerful country in the world. I don't think a dummy like me could distract such capable people.'

Class Action Targets Warrantless Arrest Policy

Aceituno is also one of five plaintiffs in a separate class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU, the ACLU of North Carolina, Democracy Forward, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, challenging warrantless immigration arrests across North Carolina. The plaintiffs are seeking a federal court order declaring DHS's warrantless arrest policy unlawful and permanently blocking warrantless immigration arrests without individualised probable cause.

The lawsuit points to a January 2026 memorandum from a senior ICE official, Todd Lyons, which it says encouraged agents to expand their use of warrantless arrests by broadly defining what counts as a risk that a person might flee. US Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, sent a letter to DHS in February citing arrests of US citizens—including Aceituno—and requesting information ahead of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's Senate committee testimony.

The Aceituno case has emerged as one of the most prominent individual challenges to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement tactics. When asked why he had voted for Trump, Aceituno said he had supported the president's stance on border security and the economy, but added: 'He said he was going to catch the criminals, but right now, he doesn't follow criminals. He goes specific to Latino people.' With federal courts in multiple states already moving to limit similar warrantless arrest practices, the outcome of his damages claim—and the broader class action—could have significant implications for how immigration enforcement is conducted across the United States.