Judge rules to release evidence in Border Patrol shooting of Marimar
Martinez
[February 07, 2026]
By Maggie Dougherty
CHICAGO — Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman who survived being shot
five times by federal Border Patrol agents last fall, received
permission from a judge Friday to share certain evidence from her case
with the public.
Although the case brought against Martinez was dropped by the federal
government in November, evidence from her trial has remained sealed
under a protective order. She sought to release body camera footage,
photos, text messages and other evidence.
Attorneys for Martinez argued that the order has prevented her from
being able to defend herself against a “pernicious misinformation
campaign” by the federal government, which has repeatedly referred to
the Montessori school teacher’s assistant as a “domestic terrorist.”
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis agreed, ruling largely in
Martinez’s favor in a downtown Chicago hearing. She allowed the
modification of the protective order to release text messages from the
agent who shot Martinez, as well as about 300 images from vehicle
tracking cameras.
Central to the complaint were social media posts by high-ranking members
of the Trump administration, including Department of Homeland Security
Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, who posted that Martinez had been
armed with a semi-automatic weapon and had rammed into agents with her
vehicle. Court records show that Martinez’s weapon was in her purse,
snapped closed inside a holster.
McLaughlin also falsely stated that the incident had taken place in
Broadview, rather than the Southwest Side Chicago neighborhood of
Brighton Park, and accused Martinez of doxing agents and posting an
incendiary statement online — one that Martinez’s lawyers say was
“certainly never posted online.”
That post has remained up on X and received over 5 million views, even
after Martinez’ charge of assaulting a federal officer was dismissed
with prejudice. Martinez has no convictions or pending criminal charges,
according to her attorneys.
Martinez’s arrest came after she followed federal agents with her car
for several blocks, calling out “La Migra,” a Spanish slang term for
federal immigration enforcement agents, to alert others nearby.
Martinez’s and federal agents’ vehicles collided, causing minor damage
to both vehicles before agents shot Martinez.
In a motion filed Wednesday, Martinez’s lead attorney Christopher
Parente accused the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of
Illinois, which has been representing DHS in the case, of being
complicit in the misinformation campaign.
“While a federal prosecutor has a duty to inform the Court when she
knows a government witness is lying on the witness stand, so too should
that duty extend to when its client is making false claims to the press
that the Office knows to be untrue,” Parente wrote.
“Yet here, DHS continues to repeat false statements about Ms. Martinez
as the U.S. Attorney’s Office turns a blind eye. They are no longer
passive observers to the false statements made by DHS; they are active
enablers of an out-of-control client.”
Federal prosecutor Ron DeWald, representing DHS in the case, objected to
the characterization of DHS as a client.
Pending redactions over the weekend, Parente told reporters after the
hearing they expect to release the evidence no sooner than Monday.
Vehicle surveillance photos
In response to the request by Martinez to unseal records, DHS sought
primarily to block the release of two categories of evidence.
DHS did not seek to block the release of body-worn camera footage, audio
of Martinez’s 911 call or FBI interviews of agents. The agent who shot
Martinez did not have his body camera activated at the time of the
shooting, but other agents did.
The feds did seek to block the release of still image photos captured by
license plate reader cameras and cameras from the security software
company Flock Safety, which logs details including license plate, make,
model and other information about cars into a database accessible to law
enforcement agencies, prosecutors and private companies.
Flock came under fire from Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias last
year after a Texas sheriff accessed Illinois license plate data to
search for a woman who had recently had an abortion. Giannoulias also
alleged the company broke state law by allowing federal immigration
officers access to state license plate data.
DHS argued that the license plate camera photos do not contain
information about Martinez’s car and that release of those photos would
reveal the location of the cameras, thereby endangering future
investigations and compromising public safety.
However, Parente claimed law enforcement obtained 30 days of Flock
camera images of Martinez’s vehicle to support their allegations that
she was a “domestic terrorist.”
“They presumably wanted to be able to show her driving from the dynamite
factory on Cicero to the suicide vest store on Armitage,” Parente wrote
sarcastically. “Instead, they presumably noticed her driving to Target
for school supplies and Michael’s for crafting materials for her
students.”
The release of the license plate reader photos would undermine the
federal government’s claim that Martinez was part of a “carefully
orchestrated ambush” between Martinez and other collaborators, Parente
wrote.
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Christopher Parente, attorney for Marimar Martinez, speaks to
reporters after the judge ruled largely in favor of Martinez’s
motion to modify the protective order sealing evidence in a Feb. 6,
2026, hearing. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Maggie Dougherty)
Alexakis ruled that the Flock images should be released, but not the
other license plate reader photos. Those Flock cameras, Alexakis said,
are not hidden and release of the images would not undermine law
enforcement by identifying the location of the cameras.
She also agreed that the release of the Flock images would be in the
public interest as it could either support or dispel the government’s
accusations against Martinez, allowing the public to draw its own
conclusions.
Parente says the images show Martinez and a co-defendant who also had
his charges dismissed never crossed paths over a 30-day period,
disproving the government’s allegations of a coordinated ambush.
Alexakis denied the request to release other license plate photos,
finding that they were of “minimal value” to Martinez, as they mostly
show drivers of other vehicles who would face privacy concerns if the
footage was released.
Agent’s text messages
DHS also sought to block the release of text messages sent by Border
Patrol agent Charles Exum, who shot Martinez, to his wife, brother and
co-workers, calling them “private.” But Alexakis ruled with Martinez,
agreeing to allow the release of redacted versions of those text
messages to protect the identity of Exum’s family members and
co-workers.
“I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book, boys,”
Exum allegedly wrote in one of five messages made public in November.
DHS argued against the release, saying doing so would serve only to
further sully Agent Exum, his family, and co-workers. They argued if the
texts are released, they should include redactions.”
Parente called out what he saw as “irony” in the government’s logic.
“Agent Exum sent these messages in the minutes, hours, and days after
the shooting. These are his words. To the extent they would ‘sully’ his
reputation more than his previously disclosed disgusting text messages
already have, it is a fully deserved self-imposed sullying,” Parente
wrote.
He contrasted that with Martinez, who he said had no say in being
branded as a domestic terrorist.
“Unlike Exum, she never had a say in the things being written about her,
as opposed to Exum having had full say in the things he chose to write
and disseminate,” Parente wrote.
Alexakis was not persuaded by the concerns of sullying Exum’s
reputation, she said, because of the “dichotomy” in reputation
protection allowed to Exum and Martinez. The judge said Exum’s own
testimony that reading the text messages brought him a “feeling of
pride” in the shooting also prevented her from being persuaded by the
sullying concern.
Broader implications
Martinez’s case has been used as a rallying cry by top Democrats in the
state as they seek accountability for alleged misconduct of federal
agents amid Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicagoland area last year.
The Illinois Accountability Commission, tasked with gathering evidence
and making recommendations about misconduct of federal agents, signaled
it would seek to make referrals for prosecution related to the shooting
of Martinez, even if the federal government would not investigate Exum
and other officers.
As the world witnessed the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in
Minneapolis, top Illinois Democrats have drawn parallels to agents’
conduct in Chicago, including the shooting of Martinez and of Silverio
Villegas Gonzalez, a father of two fatally shot by an ICE agent during a
September traffic stop in Franklin Park.
Gov. JB Pritzker has referred to DHS’s attempt to control the narrative
around the shootings in Minneapolis as a continuation of a “playbook” it
developed first in Chicago.
Parente argued that the evidence at issue in Martinez’s case is not just
relevant for clearing her name, but that its release is also in the
public interest, as it could help the public and elected officials learn
more about how DHS responds when its agents use deadly force against
U.S. citizens.
Counsel for both sides expressed optimism that they could come to an
agreement over redactions of the text messages and other evidence
produced for the trial, including body worn camera footage and FBI
interviews of Exum and other agents.
“You see what happened to Ms. Good, you see what happened to Mr. Pretti,
it’s terrible,” Parente told reporters after the hearing. “Now we’ll
pull the curtain back and you guys can see how the government itself
responds and interacts with all these agents in the moments after these
shootings happen.”
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