Marimar Martinez Sues Federal Government Over Shooting By CBP Agent

A Chicago woman who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent last year has filed a lawsuit against the federal government. 

The New York Times reports that Marimar Martinez said her civil rights were violated as a result of the shooting. Martinez’s shooting came during ICE and CBP’s Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago last year. The incident occurred after Martinez spotted an unmarked silver van last year, which she believed belonged to ICE agents. Martinez honked her horn and warned bystanders that immigration agents were nearby. 

After the SUV collided with another person’s car, Border Patrol agent Charles Exum exited the car and told Martinez to “do something, bitch” before shooting into her car five times. 

Shortly after the shooting, a Homeland Security official labeled Martinez a “domestic terrorist” who had “ambushed” law enforcement. She was arrested, indicted, and charged with assault. Her charges were dropped as video evidence revealed the CBP agent lied about what led up to the shooting, and it was revealed he sent several disgusting texts bragging about what he did.

Martinez’s lawsuit alleges she experienced emotional distress and physical trauma as a result of the shooting and the federal government’s “malicious” prosecution. 

Sadly, Martinez’s shooting and the lies that followed seem to be par for the course in how ICE and CBP operate. After Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer, former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was quick to call Good a “domestic terrorist.” This label was also applied to Alex Pretti after he was fatally shot several times in the back by an ICE agent. 

The federal government is facing several lawsuits as a result of these shootings and the way that immigration agents have conducted themselves throughout these raids. 

From The New York Times:

Last week, relatives of Renee Good, the woman killed by an immigration agent early this year during the administration’s immigration enforcement campaign in Minneapolis, filed two federal lawsuits, including one against the officer who shot her and several top Trump administration officials.

In Chicago, a group of protesters known as the “Broadview Six” gathered in a courtroom last Thursday before a federal judge who is investigating the conduct of federal prosecutors who pursued charges against them last fall. The charges, of interfering with a federal agent and conspiracy, were later dropped. The group has asked for a formal inquiry into the conduct of prosecutors who they say pursued warrantless charges against them.

In California, at least three U.S. citizens recently used a new law to sue federal immigration agents for trampling on their civil rights, saying that they were wrongfully arrested. And in the District of Columbia, legal groups filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of several Minnesota residents who said their homes were searched, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

While the Trump administration has spent plenty of time trying to prosecute people who protest its inhumane immigration crackdown, there have been few consequences for the federal agents that have been involved in these shootings. 

“This, in our opinion, is not a political issue,” Christopher Parente, Martinez’s lawyer, said on Monday. “We are asking the Department of Justice to do something. It’s not the Department of Republicans. It’s not the Department of Democrats. It’s the Department of Justice.”

SEE ALSO:

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Chicago Woman Shot By Border Patrol

Lawyers For Chicago Woman Shot By Border Patrol Threaten Civil Rights Lawsuit