A Chicago woman who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent during an incident in Brighton Park last October is preparing to sue the federal government, according to her attorneys.
Marimar Martinez was injured when federal immigration agents confronted her in an encounter that led to her being shot by Border Patrol agent Charles Exum. Agents initially claimed that Martinez chased them and rammed her car into a Border Patrol vehicle, but both Martinez and her attorney have disputed these allegations.
Martinez faced charges of criminally assaulting, resisting, opposing, impeding, intimidating, and interfering with a federal officer following the incident. However, those charges were later dropped after video and ballistic evidence challenged the government’s version of events.
Her lawyer, Chris Parente, stated that the civil suit is based on the continued classification of Martinez as a “domestic terrorist” by federal officials. In his words: “This campaign of misinformation against Ms. Martinez has been promoted by the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI Director Kash Patel, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin, and other U.S. government officials.”
The upcoming lawsuit will be officially announced at a press conference scheduled for Wednesday. It follows last week’s decision by a federal judge to release evidence in the case. This includes about 40 text messages from Exum’s phone, body camera footage from the scene, emails between officials, FBI reports, and images captured by license plate detection cameras tracking Martinez’s vehicle before the shooting.
Recently released materials reportedly contradict previous federal accounts of what happened during the confrontation with Martinez. According to coverage from the Sun-Times, body camera footage shows Exum steering toward Martinez’s car after other agents said phrases like “it’s time to get aggresive” and “we’re going to make contact, we’re boxed in.” This footage challenges claims that Martinez used her vehicle to ram Exum’s car.
Internal communications released this week also indicate that Exum received support from colleagues following the incident. As reported by the Chicago Tribune, one agent texted Exum in a group chat called “Posse Chat,” asking if others were supportive; Exum replied: “Big time. Everyone has been including Chief Bovino, Chief Banks, Sec Noem and El Jefe himself…according to Bovino.” Another message described Exum as a “legend among agents.”
On the day of the shooting itself, Chief Bovino emailed Exum offering to extend his retirement age: “In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much yet left to do!! Joe would have staff work with Mr. Exum to accomplish this most illustrative [sic] endeavor.”
Martinez said she was motivated to seek public release of evidence after hearing about recent fatal shootings involving Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis last month. She has since participated in national media interviews and testified before a joint House-Senate committee in Washington D.C., which is examining use-of-force incidents involving federal agents.
A lifelong Chicago resident who works as a teacher’s aide, Martinez plans to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address later this month.
