Federal prosecutors on Thursday moved to dismiss the indictment of a Chicago woman who was shot repeatedly by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent during an escalated deportation campaign this autumn, court records show.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago said it was reviewing “new facts and information” in cases tied to Operation Midway Blitz, a months-long enforcement campaign under Donald Trump. Marimar Martinez, 30, and co-defendant Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz were indicted on October 9 on charges of impeding a federal officer with a deadly weapon—her car.
Charges against Ruiz were also dismissed Thursday.
Agent Charles Exum shot Martinez five times on October 4 after their cars collided. He later drove his vehicle, considered a key piece of evidence, to Maine and had it repaired. Exum is stationed in Calais, Maine.
Martinez’s attorney, Christopher Parente, earlier told Reuters he had seen bodycam footage showing the border patrol car striking her vehicle. The footage has not been released due to a court order.
During a November 5 hearing over the vehicle, Exum boasted about his shooting. “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys,” he wrote in a text message presented in court. Asked to explain, he said: “I’m a firearms instructor and I take pride in my shooting skills.”
Neither Parente nor Ruiz's attorneys immediately responded to requests for comment on Thursday.
The case, which the federal government had cited as among the reasons that National Guard troops were needed to support immigration enforcement in Chicago, was one of several dropped against protesters in the Chicago area in recent months.
In October, the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago sued Trump to stop his deployment of Texas National Guard soldiers. In response to a federal judge's order blocking the deployment, the government described the Martinez case as an example of federal immigration officers facing violence from protesters. Earlier this week, the Pentagon was set to send the troops home from a military training facility near Chicago.
