Body Camera Footage And Texts Reveal Details Of Border Patrol Shooting Of Chicago Woman

Body camera footage, matter messages and different grounds released Tuesday shed caller ray connected specifications astir the lawsuit of Marimar Martinez, who was changeable 5 times by a Border Patrol supplier successful Chicago past year. Martinez was accused of utilizing her car to battle national rule enforcement earlier the lawsuit against her was dismissed successful November.

The caller grounds was portion of a trove nan U.S. attorney’s agency successful Chicago made nationalist aft a judge past week ordered their release.

Border Patrol supplier Charles Exum, who changeable Martinez 5 times, was not wearing his assemblage camera during nan incident, according to Martinez’s attorney. Body camera footage from different supplier who was astatine nan segment shows nan moments starring up to and aft nan shooting from wrong Exum’s vehicle.

In 1 video, nan agents wrong nan conveyance person their weapons drawn, and 1 is heard saying, “It’s clip to get fierce and get nan f--- out, because they’re trying to container america in.”

“We’re going to make interaction and we’re boxed in,” different says.

Exum is past seen quickly turning nan steering instrumentality sharply to nan near and an evident jolt from nan effect of a collision instantly follows.

Exum past exits nan conveyance and soon aft 5 gunshots are heard disconnected camera.

Texts to and from Exum show him describing nan “big time” support he received aft nan shooting. Responding to a matter asking if group person been supportive, he wrote back, “Everyone has been including Chief Bovino, Chief Banks, Sec Noem and El Jefe himself … according to Bovino,” referring to erstwhile Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. “El Jefe” is Spanish for “the boss.”

In 1 email hours aft the shooting of Martinez, Bovino, nan erstwhile commander-at-large of Border Patrol who has since been removed from nan post and returned to his position successful El Centro, California, wrote to Exum, “I’d for illustration to widen an connection for you to widen your status beyond property 57. … In ray of your fantabulous work successful Chicago, you person overmuch yet near to do!!”

“This grounds conclusively rebuts nan mendacious narratives that Ms. Martinez was thing but a unfortunate of a horrific convulsive crime,” said a connection from Martinez and her attorneys Tuesday afternoon, earlier nan grounds was released to nan public.

Marimar Martinez testified past week astir nan infinitesimal she thought she was dying aft being changeable by a Border Patrol serviceman successful Chicago. Stefani Reynolds / Bloomberg via Getty Images

After a federal judge connected Friday ruled that nan texts could beryllium released publicly, Martinez’s lawyer Chris Parente told reporters, “This man, aft shooting a female who did nothing, is going to matter his friends and joke astir it, brag astir it, ‘put it successful your book.’”

“That’s not what this state stands for,” he said.

Exum’s matter messages were nan taxable of a erstwhile tribunal proceeding connected nan case, wherever records show he wrote successful group chat pinch different agents, “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that successful your book boys.” In a abstracted message, he shared a news article astir nan shooting and wrote, “Read it. 5 shots, 7 holes.”

Government attorneys person antecedently said successful tribunal that South Bend prosecutors are handling a probe into nan shooting. DHS has not answered questions astir whether Exum is still connected progressive duty.

After nan charges against Martinez were dropped pinch prejudice, her ineligible squad said nan fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti successful Minneapolis created for them a renewed consciousness of urgency to show nan American group really Department of Homeland Security leaders respond to officer-involved shootings.

“We cognize benignant of what it looks for illustration down nan curtain, and it’s scary, and it will proceed to hap successful metropolis aft metropolis erstwhile nan bosses of these separator patrol agents do what they do successful nan contiguous aftermath of a shooting,” Parente said.

Martinez was accused of utilizing her car to battle and impede national rule enforcement earlier the charges against her were dismissed successful November. The charges against her were dropped aft national prosecutors revenge a mobility to disregard their ain case.

Texts betwixt agents referring to nan shooting of Marimar Martinez.FBI via Chicago United States Attorney Office

Her lawsuit has been 1 of nan astir high-profile examples of civilians being accused by national authorities of ramming into a conveyance driven by migration agents.

DHS and nan Department of Justice did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

Martinez gave affectional testimony connected Capitol Hill successful a forum organized by Democratic senators past week recounting her experience, calling herself a subsister who was changeable by DHS and past instantly branded arsenic a “domestic terrorist.”

“The intelligence scars will ever beryllium location arsenic a reminder of nan clip my ain authorities attempted to execute me, and erstwhile they failed, they chose to vilify me,” Martinez told Congress.

She compared her communicative to that of respective group killed by migration rule enforcement nether nan Trump administration.

“I americium Renee Good. I americium Alex Pretti. I americium Silverio Villegas- Gonzalez. I americium Keith Porter. They should each beryllium present today,” she said, referring to nan 2 U.S. citizens killed successful Minneapolis, a Mexican migrant changeable dormant by an migration serviceman successful Chicago and a man fatally changeable by an off-duty ICE serviceman successful California.

She testified that she had been connected her measurement to present immoderate apparel she’d collected from her location to a church, erstwhile she spotted migration enforcement vehicles and tried to pass friends and neighbors of their beingness by honking her horn and shouting “La Migra,” a Spanish slang word for migration authorities.