Marimar Martinez

NION-002 · Shot five times by a U.S. Border Patrol agent · Chicago, IL · 2025-10-04

Case ID: NION-002
Age: 30
Legal status: US Citizen
Agency: CBP
Location: Chicago, IL
Incident date: 2025-10-04
Abuse type: Excessive Force; Attempted Coverup; False Statements by Officials; Unnecessary Arrest
Verification tier: T1 Third-party evidence of the incident, or court order

Summary

On October 4, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum shot Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen, five times in Chicago's Brighton Park. Federal charges against her were dismissed with prejudice seven weeks later, and a federal judge subsequently ordered the government to release evidence that contradicted the agent's account of the shooting.

What happened

INCIDENT DETAILS

On the morning of Saturday, October 4, 2025, Marimar Martinez was allegedly driving to her church to drop off a donation of clothes. She saw an SUV she believed carried federal immigration agents. After confirming that uniformed Border Patrol agents were inside, she began following it, honking her horn and shouting "la migra" to warn people nearby. She followed the vehicle for more than fifteen minutes.

Her vehicle was two to three feet to the left of the agents' Chevrolet Tahoe near 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue. Body camera footage from other agents inside the Tahoe records one saying "Do something, b---h" while another points a handgun toward the window. Another says, "Alright it's time to get aggressive and get the f--k out because they're trying to box us in," followed by "We're going to make contact." The footage then shows the driver turning his steering wheel to the left, toward her car, as the two vehicles collide. An agent is heard saying "we've been struck."

Agent Charles Exum, an immigration agent since 2005 stationed in Maine and on temporary assignment to Operation Midway Blitz, stopped the SUV, got out and fired five rounds. Martinez was hit five times and sustained seven wounds, to her right arm and both legs. She allegedly continued driving past the agents, struck a curb, and drove about a mile to an auto repair shop, where workers called 911. She was taken by ambulance to a hospital, treated for gunshot wounds, then taken into federal custody. Photographs released by the U.S. Attorney's office show the interior of her car covered in blood.

CHARGES AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Martinez was charged on October 5, 2025 with one count alleging that she "forcibly assaulted, resisted, opposed, impeded, intimidated, and interfered with an officer of the United States." Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz was charged in connection with the same incident. She pleaded not guilty. Neither was charged with a weapons offense.

The Tahoe was taken to an FBI office for processing. Hours later Exum was told it was ready and that he could collect it, and he drove it three days to his duty station in Maine, arriving October 10. Judge Georgia Alexakis summoned him to court on November 5, 2025 over an evidence-destruction allegation. A supervisor's email in the record reads: "If they needed it as evidence I did not think they would have released it from the investigation, had you drive three days all the way back to Maine, possibly destroying some of that evidence along the way if they still needed it." On cross-examination her attorney cited FBI reports stating it was Exum, not a supervisor, who initiated the repair request.

On November 20, 2025, hours before defense attorneys were due to disclose further text messages from Exum, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss. Judge Alexakis granted it with prejudice, meaning the charges can never be refiled. No explanation was given. On February 6, 2026 she ordered the government's evidence released, finding it carried "impeachment value" on Exum's account. Martinez then filed an administrative claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act against the Department of Homeland Security and against Exum. The statute requires a six-month wait before suit, which expires this month.

Exum's own body camera was not recording during the shooting.

A criminal investigation into Exum is being conducted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in South Bend, Indiana, established by court testimony and filings. It sits outside Illinois because Exum had served as a prosecution witness there. Martinez's car remained in federal custody months afterward because of it.

AGENCY STATEMENTS

Department of Homeland Security, October 4, 2025

A DHS spokeswoman stated that none of the agents were injured. The department described Martinez and Ruiz as "domestic terrorists," said they had "rammed" the agents' vehicle and "ambushed" the agents, and said Martinez was armed with a semi-automatic weapon.

U.S. Attorney's Office, November 20, 2025

Spokesperson Joseph Fitzpatrick said the office is "constantly evaluating new facts and information" relating to matters arising from Operation Midway Blitz, which he called the "largest ever law enforcement surge" within the Northern District of Illinois. He added:

"It helps ensure that the interests of justice are served in each and every case, and that those cases that are charged are appropriately adjudicated through our federal court system."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, February 11, 2026

A CBP spokesperson said Exum "was placed on administrative leave," and added:

"CBP is committed to the highest standards of conduct, transparency, and accountability. All significant use-of-force incidents are thoroughly investigated, reviewed, and presented to the National Use of Force Review Board (NUFRB), an independent body comprised of senior CBP officials and representatives from DHS and DOJ, including the DOJ Civil Rights Division."

Requests for comment

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment on the day the charges were dismissed. Customs and Border Protection did not answer follow-up questions about when Exum's administrative leave began or whether it remains in effect.

U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Indiana, February 11, 2026

Declined to comment, citing a pending investigation.

Withdrawals and corrections

None. No agency has retracted the claim that Martinez rammed the agents, the claim that she was armed, or the description of her as a domestic terrorist. That description remained on the Department of Homeland Security's website after the charges were dismissed with prejudice.

BEST OFFICER JUSTIFICATION

Agents on an enforcement detail had been followed by a civilian vehicle for more than fifteen minutes. When two moving cars collide, the occupants of each feel the impact without necessarily knowing who caused it, and an agent inside the Tahoe is heard saying "we've been struck." An agent who believed his vehicle had just been rammed, by a driver who then continued past him, could form a genuine belief of imminent danger in the two or three seconds available. The legal standard asks whether an officer was reasonable in the moment, not whether he turned out to be right.

Exum told the FBI that he veered his vehicle to the left after the collision, in an attempt to create space, and that he fired all five shots through Martinez's windshield as she drove toward him. He told other agents within minutes that this was his first use-of-force incident.

THE OUTCOME

Seven weeks after the shooting, and hours before more of Exum's text messages were due to be disclosed, federal prosecutors abandoned the case. The dismissal was with prejudice and no reason was given.

On February 10, 2026, under a court order the government had opposed, the U.S. Attorney's office released its evidence. The body camera footage shows Exum turning his steering wheel toward Martinez's car as the vehicles collide, which is not what he told the FBI. A scene diagram drawn by a federal agent depicts three vehicles stacked ahead of the Tahoe, supporting the claim that the agents were boxed in; surveillance footage shows no vehicles there, and shows Martinez's car continuing forward unimpeded. No agent was injured.

The released material included Exum's messages afterward. He sent a news story about the shooting with the words "Read it. 5 shots, 7 holes. Put that in your book boys." He wrote "Cool. I'm up for another round of 'f--k around and find out'." Asked in a group chat whether his superiors were supportive, he replied "Big time," adding "Everyone has been including Chief Bovino, Chief Banks, Sec Noem and El Jefe himself … according to Bovino." Less than four hours after the shooting, Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino emailed him offering to extend his retirement beyond the mandatory age of 57: "In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much yet left to do!!"

Exum is on administrative leave and under criminal investigation. Martinez has never been compensated, has not received an apology, and is still described by the Department of Homeland Security as a domestic terrorist.

Testifying under oath in April 2026, Martinez said she thinks about the shooting "all the time," had nightmares in the period afterward, and still sometimes loses sleep. During the hearing she stood up, removed her jacket, and showed lawmakers where she had been shot. Of her decision to keep driving rather than stop, she said: "Imagine if I would've stayed. I wouldn't be here to testify. I wouldn't." She asked that Exum be charged and tried.

SOURCES

[1] Chicago Sun-Times, Jon Seidel, February 10, 2026. Release of body camera footage, texts and photographs. link

[2] WTTW News, Matt Masterson, November 20, 2025. Charges dismissed with prejudice. link

[3] Chicago Sun-Times, Jon Seidel, February 11, 2026. Exum's statement to the FBI, and CBP confirming administrative leave. link

[4] WTTW News, Matt Masterson, February 11, 2026. The released evidence in full, and the CBP statement. link

[5] ABC7 Chicago I-Team, February 12, 2026. The criminal investigation, the vehicle driven to Maine, and the judge's finding of impeachment value. link

[6] Chicago Sun-Times, Kade Heather, April 22, 2026. Sworn testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee. link

[7] Capitol News Illinois, Maggie Dougherty, February 12, 2026. The administrative claim against DHS and Exum. link

Verified August 2, 2026. Twenty-two corroborated facts, almost entirely from the government's own records. Full research file held in the Not In Our Name archive as case NION-002.