Former Border Patrol Commander visits East Charlotte bakery
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A local business owner confronted a former Border Patrol commander in East Charlotte. Manolo Betancur says Border Patrol’s Operation Charlotte’s Web immigration sweep is having a lasting negative impact on his bakery.
He approached former commander Greg Bovino in front of his bakery on Central Avenue Sunday afternoon.
“He brought a lot of tears to our eyes, a lot of fear, a lot of trauma,” Betancur said. “He brought a lot of hate to our city.”
Department of Homeland Security says they arrested more than 400 immigrants in the Operation Charlotte’s Web last November.
In a message on X, former Commander Bovino says he was in Charlotte shooting a podcast to “show how locations that potentially hire and depend on illegal aliens for their business are flourishing.”
Betancur shut down his bakery for several days during the operation he said to protect employees and customers.
“Businesses are down, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars. I haven’t been able to recover from November,” Betancur said. “There is neighborhoods that people are not coming out. So the devastation is huge.”
Betancur spoke in front of city council Monday asking them to speak out against immigration enforcement.
“I’m the baker, I should be selling cakes and breads I shouldn’t be condemning this person for showing up in our city,” Betancur said.
Bovino considers Charlotte’s Web to be a success. DHS has not provided details of the breakdown of arrests in the operation. Betancur says agents are still active in Charlotte.
“I make sure to have my passport in my pocket. I bless myself. I say what I’m gonna be saying if I I get pulled over by ICE but I never thought it was gonna be Bovino,” Betancur said.
Betancur says his business was vandalized back in July. He believes it’s because of how outspoken he has been about immigration. He says he’s also dealing with an increase of negative reviews from people who are not customers.
Public records reveal that Bovino registered to vote in Mecklenburg County in July of 2026 as an independent.
