Crime & Law

Chicago Judge to Rule Next Week on Request From Woman Shot by Border Patrol to Unseal Photo, Video Evidence

A federal judge next week is expected to rule on a request from Marimar Martinez, the woman shot five times by a federal immigration agent last fall, to unseal videos, photos and other evidence from the shooting.

U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis gave federal prosecutors until Monday to respond to the request before she issues her ruling next Wednesday. But at a hearing Thursday, she dressed down the feds for their failure to remove or amend public statements describing Martinez as a “domestic terrorist” months after they voluntarily dismissed their criminal case against her.

Martinez was shot five times by Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum on Oct. 4 in Brighton Park. She survived, but was charged with assault before federal prosecutors abruptly moved to dismiss the case weeks later.

In his motion — which seeks to unseal body camera footage, photographs, electronic communications and other evidentiary materials from the shooting — defense attorney Christopher Parente argued the release of these materials was necessary to defend against the “regrettable and unyielding tide of misinformation from the federal government regarding her case.”

“While the United States voluntarily dismissed its formal prosecution of her with prejudice, as discussed below, government officials continue to prosecute Ms. Martinez’s character in the court of public opinion,” Parente wrote in the motion. “The ability to disclose the evidence in this case is paramount to Ms. Martinez’s ability to combat the continuing harm being done to her reputation.”

Martinez was not present for Thursday’s hearing.

Prosecutors initially alleged Martinez and another man, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, were among a civilian group that was tracking a Border Patrol vehicle on Oct. 4 when she used her car to ram into the agents’ vehicle.

Prosecutors claimed the vehicles driven by Martinez and Ruiz boxed in the agents’ vehicle at which point Border Patrol agent Charles Exum exited the car, and fired five shots from his service weapon at Martinez.

Following the shooting, texts from the Border Patrol agent who fired at Martinez revealed he apparently bragged about the shooting to others, stating in one message that he’d “fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.”

Following the dismissal, Parente called the incident a “bad shoot” and said the agents involved had lied about what happened.

Martinez drove to a repair shop about a mile away, according to federal prosecutors, and was taken by ambulance to a hospital.

While Martinez had hoped the dismissal of her charges would allow her to return to her normal life, Parente said the shooting has become a matter of “strong public interest and debate.” By releasing the evidence from the case, he said Martinez can ensure “that debate is based in fact.”

The motion states that not only is Martinez still described as a “domestic terrorist” in a statement that remains on the Department of Homeland Security’s website, but FBI Director Kash Patel reposted a video on social media purporting to show how Martinez “rammed a white DHS vehicle who had their emergency lights on.”

Parente noted that the video included in that post appears to show an “entirely unrelated incident.”

“The government should not be in the business of trying to assassinate characters through press releases,” he said after Thursday’s hearing, “especially when they themselves dismissed the charges.”

While prosecutors claimed they didn’t know if DHS was able to remove the statements from its own website, Alexakis on Thursday said she was “hard pressed” to believe the department and Patel would be unable to “change the narrative” about the case following its dismissal.

“There are ways to delete tweets, X posts whatever we’re calling them,” she said.

Parente in his motion also argued the evidence would be useful to the public and elected officials in showing how the Department of Homeland Security responds after its agents use deadly force, citing what he called the “execution” of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration agents in Minneapolis while they were involved in “similar peaceful protests.”

“She sees what happened to Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti and she knows they don’t have a voice,” Parente said, “and she knows by being one of the few people who has survived these Border Patrol bullets, that it’s her time to speak out for those who can no longer speak.”

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