A judge dismissed charges Thursday against Marimar Martinez, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent multiple times in Chicago and accused of using her car to assault and impede federal law enforcement.
The move came after federal prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss their own case. Martinez's case has been one of the most high-profile examples of civilians being accused by federal authorities of ramming into a vehicle driven by immigration agents.
Martinez and co-defendant Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz pleaded not guilty last month to Justice Department charges that they used “their vehicles to assault, impede, and interfere with the work of federal agents in Chicago.”
Andrew S. Boutros, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, filed court documents Thursday morning to dismiss the charges.
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis granted the government’s motion to dismiss the charges Thursday evening, court documents show. The charges were dismissed with prejudice, meaning Martinez and her co-defendant cannot be filed again against them.
Prosecutors said Border Patrol agent Charles Exum shot Martinez in self-defense after she and Santos Ruiz allegedly rammed their cars into a federal vehicle on Oct. 4.
“After striking the agents’ vehicle, the defendants’ vehicles boxed in the agents’ vehicle, the complaint states,” prosecutors said in a statement when charges were announced last month. “The agent was unable to move his vehicle and exited the car, at which point he fired approximately five shots from his service weapon at Martinez, the complaint states.”
Martinez’s legal team had argued that it was federal agents who rammed her car with their vehicle and that the shooting was unjustified and an excessive use of force.
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The motion to dismiss comes after it was revealed last week at a court hearing that the Customs and Border Protection agent who shot Martinez multiple times had bragged about it in messages to other officers.
According to Reuters, records presented at the hearing showed that in a group Signal chat with other agents, Exum wrote: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.”
In a message to another recipient, Exum sent a news article about the event followed by the message: “Read it. 5 shots, 7 holes,” Reuters reported.
Christopher Parente, an attorney for Martinez, asked the agent what he meant by those messages. According to records presented earlier this month at a hearing against her, Exum responded: “I’m a firearms instructor and I take pride in my shooting skills.”
The Department of Homeland Security referred questions about charges in the case Thursday to the Justice Department.
The agency also shared a statement with its description of the alleged incident involving Martinez and Santos Ruiz, saying, “Border Patrol law enforcement officers were ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles.”
The statement said Martinez “was armed with a semi-automatic weapon and has a history of doxing federal agents.”
The complaint against Martinez did not mention or include charges related to a firearm.
Parente has said in court and to Reuters that Martinez is a licensed gun owner with a permit for concealed carry in Illinois and that her firearm remained stored in her purse throughout the incident.
“This gun was never in her hand,” Parente said.
Parente and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the motion to dismiss.
DHS said this week that incidents in which civilians have allegedly used their cars to strike federal agents or their vehicles have greatly increased.
