CHARLOTTE — An east Charlotte bakery owner said he refused service to former Customs and Border Protection Cmdr. Greg Bovino after unexpectedly seeing him in his parking lot Sunday. Bovino, who led the immigration enforcement effort known as Operation Charlotte’s Web, was back in the Queen City to record a podcast when the encounter happened at Manolo’s Bakery.
[ READ MORE: Manolo’s Bakery owner says he denied entry to former U.S. Border Patrol Commander ]
Manolo’s Bakery was a community hub during the Border Patrol operation in Charlotte, and the encounter on Sunday was caught on video.
Bovino was in Charlotte taping a podcast with Border Hawk and visited places impacted by Operation Charlotte’s Web.
While Bovino was in the bakery parking lot, Manolo Betancur was picking up his wife, and he said he never expected to see Bovino.
Betancur said it was intimidating to come face to face with the man behind the immigration crackdown that began in November 2025.
“When I saw his face, I started shaking,” Betancur said.
Border Patrol agents arrested people daily near his business during Operation Charlotte’s Web. At night, his bakery became a community gathering space and the hub for anti-immigration-enforcement protests.
“He brought a lot of hate to our city, and he brought out the best in us as well,” Betancur said. “He brought a lot of love, love that we have never had before.”
Bovino told Channel 9’s Joe Bruno on X that he was back in Charlotte to show how some businesses are “flourishing after (Border Czar Tom) Homan and CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott surrendered in Minnesota and to also show mass deportations are not occurring on any level as touted by Markwayne Mullin.”
However, Betancur said his business isn’t flourishing and said he is still dealing with the ripple effects of Operation Charlotte’s Web.
“There are neighborhoods of people that are not coming out, so the devastation is huge,” the baker said. “I just want to serve my cakes and my bread, man, you know? I want to have a peaceful life.”
Betancur said Bovino and the podcast host asked if they could buy pastries from him, but he told them, “No.”
More than 425 people had been arrested since Operation Charlotte’s Web started, a spokesperson told Channel 9 in December 2025. Most of their identities have never been released.