Marimar Martinez, who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent, appearing before Congress earlier this month.Rod Lamkey, Jr./AP
Newly released body camera footage further undermines the Trump administration’s efforts to falsely portray Marimar Martinez—who was shot multiple times by Border Patrol agent Charles Exum in October—as a “domestic terrorist.” Federal prosecutors shared three videos on Tuesday evening after a federal judge ruled last week that the footage and other evidence could be made public.
“I looked down and I noticed blood gushing out of my arms and legs.”
Martinez’s shooting caused nationwide outrage, particularly after it was revealed that Exum had bragged about shooting Martinez. “Read it,” he wrote in one message after being sent an article about the incident. “5 shots, 7 holes.” He continued: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.”
The videos released on Tuesday shed further light on why prosecutors dropped charges against Martinez rather than try to bring a case against her to trial.
The newly released evidence is also part of a pattern. It is one of many examples of DHS immigration agents lying and providing false information to justify shootings and other uses of excessive force against US citizens and immigrants. These claims have collapsed again and again once DHS is forced to defend them in court.
Martinez’s case follows this pattern. DHS initially claimed their force was justified because Border Patrol agents “were ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles.” Once in court, evidence showed something much different. Like in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, DHS might have gotten away with its false claims about Martinez were it not for the video evidence that contradicted its account.
One of the videos released on Tuesday shows the perspective of a federal agent sitting behind Exum as he drives an SUV in Chicago. As drivers appear to honk at Border Patrol, one of the agents in the vehicle can be heard saying, “do something bitch.” About twenty seconds later, a Border Patrol agent says: “It’s time to get aggressive and get the fuck out because they’re trying to box us in.”
Soon after, an agent says “we’re going to make contact and we are boxed in.” Exum then jerks the steering wheel to the left, and the two vehicles collide. Previously released video footage shows that Martinez’s Nissan was to Exum’s left in the moments leading up to the collision. Martinez, a US citizen and teacher’s assistant at a Montessori school, also testified before Congress earlier this month that Exum intentionally sideswiped her vehicle.
Following the crash, Exum gets out of his SUV with a handgun drawn. Within seconds, he fires five shots at Martinez.
Martinez managed to drive away, despite sustaining multiple gunshot wounds. “I looked down and I noticed blood gushing out of my arms and legs,” she said in her congressional testimony. Martinez added that she saw her “life flash before me” before she lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital. While at the hospital, she said law enforcement agents rushed nurses to finish their work so that they could take her into custody.
Federal prosecutors went on to secure an indictment against Martinez for allegedly impeding federal agents. But the case fell apart after the text messages emerged in which Exum bragged about shooting Martinez came to light. In messages he wrote, “I’m up for another round of ‘fuck around and find out,’” and “My 15 mins of fame. Lmao.” In November, prosecutors dropped the case against Martinez.
Martinez is expected to announce a civil lawsuit on Wednesday. She will also be attending President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address as a guest of Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Ill.)
The newly released evidence also included an email that Greg Bovino, the Border Patrol commander in charge in Chicago at the time, sent to Exum shortly after the shooting. “I’d like to extend an offer to you to extend your retirement beyond age 57,” Bovino wrote, according to reporting from the Chicago Tribune. “In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do!!”
Bovino went on to lead the Minneapolis operation during which federal agents killed Good and Pretti before he was pushed out of his position.
