By Renee Hickman
Feb 11 (Reuters) – A Chicago woman shot multiple times by a Border Patrol agent plans to sue the agent and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security after a trove of evidence was released that casts doubt on the Trump administration’s account of the incident, her lawyers told a press conference on Wednesday.
The agent, Charles Exum, was placed on administrative leave after the shooting, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told Reuters, but did not respond to queries on the timing.
Soon after the October 4 shooting, DHS, which oversees border patrol, said Marimar Martinez, 31, had rammed agents with her car. But the footage suggested that the agents could have struck her vehicle themselves.
The statement echoed others by DHS after violent encounters involving federal agents that portrayed those shot as aggressors and defended the agents’ use of lethal force.
A Reuters review of such incidents has shown that video and other evidence repeatedly contradicted those narratives.
Video, text messages, emails and other records were released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago late on Tuesday after a district court judge said that the government had shown “zero concern” about Martinez’s reputation even after the government dropped the case in November.
Martinez, a Montessori school teacher in Chicago, was following the agents to warn residents of their presence when the collision occurred. In the bodycam video released Tuesday, one agent could be heard saying “do something, bitch” shortly before the vehicles made contact.
An agent in the vehicle, driven by Exum and bearing an Uber carshare sign, said they were being boxed in. “It’s time to get aggressive,” the agent said, adding, “we’re going to make contact.”
After the collision, Exum stepped out of the vehicle and fired five shots. FBI photographs in the records release showed a smattering of bullet holes in the windshield of Martinez’s vehicle and a shattered back passenger window. The interior of the vehicle was streaked with blood.
Martinez’s lawyer, Christopher Parente, said on Wednesday that Exum was under criminal investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office in South Bend, Indiana.
The U.S. Attorney’s office in South Bend did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago declined to comment.
Following the shooting, Martinez drove off, and was taken by ambulance to a local hospital. DHS released a statement after the shooting saying that Martinez had “ambushed” the border patrol vehicle, and that an agent had fired in self-defense.
Martinez was indicted on charges of impeding a federal officer. Months after the charges were dismissed, a DHS statement labeling her a “domestic terrorist” has remained online.
Martinez said she sought the records release after the fatal shootings by federal immigration agents of protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month and to clear her name.
AGENT BRAGGED ABOUT MARKSMANSHIP
In the bodycam footage, agents, including Exum, could be seen inside a Border Patrol vehicle driving as protesters honked their horns outside.
In the moments before the collision, just after an agent said they would make contact, the video showed Exum, at the wheel, turn the steering wheel sharply to the left.
“Be advised we’ve been struck, we’ve been struck,” the agent wearing the bodycam said into a radio.
Exum then opened the door with his weapon drawn.
During Martinez’s court case, evidence was shared that Exum had driven the vehicle, a Chevy Tahoe, back to his base in Maine, and that repairs were made by a Customs and Border Protection mechanic before the defendants could examine it.
Text messages from Exum after the shooting also surfaced in court, including one in which he bragged about his marksmanship in a group chat with other agents. “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book, boys,” he wrote.
Records released on Tuesday show Exum exchanging a flurry of additional text messages with colleagues and family members, many of which had a celebratory tone.
One person, who Exum identified in a text to a family member as “the guy from Vermont,” called him a “legend among agents.”
“Beers on me when I see you at training,” the person wrote.
The “compliment,” Exum told his family member, made him “feel good.”
The records released on Tuesday also included an email sent on the afternoon of the shooting by Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who was demoted from his post as commander-at-large, overseeing operations in Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis, following Pretti’s death.
Bovino thanked Exum for his “excellent service” in Chicago and suggested that the agent postpone his retirement. “You have much left to do!” he wrote.
(Reporting by Renee Hickman; Editing by Emily Schmall)
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