US citizen who was shot by immigration agent in Chicago files lawsuit
alleging he fired from behind
[October 06, 2026]
By CYBELE MAYES-OSTERMAN
CHICAGO (AP) — An American citizen shot by a Customs and Border
Protection agent one year ago during a sweeping immigration crackdown in
Chicago filed a lawsuit against the federal government on Monday,
alleging the agent lied about the shooting and fired into her vehicle
from behind.
Federal prosecutors initially accused Marimar Martinez, then 30, of
using her vehicle to strike and box in agent Charles Exum’s SUV on
Chicago’s southwest side on Oct. 4, 2025, during “Operation Midway
Blitz.” Exum then exited his car and opened fire, leaving Martinez with
seven gunshot wounds.
In the month after the shooting, prosecutors filed to dismiss the
charges in a dramatic reversal of the closely watched case in the
nation's third-largest city.
Agent fired into rear of car, attorneys say
Her lawyers said Monday that they commissioned an expert to analyze
bullet trajectories and her injuries and determined Exum wasn't in the
path of her car when he opened fire. They said he had walked several
feet toward her car, contrary to statements he made to the FBI, and
fired off five shots in less than a second, the last from the rear side
of her vehicle.
“Charles Exum told the FBI agent on that day, within hours of the
shooting, that Marimar was driving her car directly at him, that he shot
her five times through the windshield, and that he ceased firing once he
was no longer in the path of the vehicle. Those are three objective lies
that you’ll see here today,” said one of her attorneys, Chris Parente.
Parente said there were only three bullet holes in Martinez’ windshield
on the right passenger side, which indicated Martinez wasn't driving
toward the agent. He said the fourth shot was fired through the front
passenger side window, adding another bullet hole in the back of
Martinez’ car seat showed the agent fired the fifth shot from behind
her.
“In what world can a U.S. law enforcement officer stand behind a car and
fire his Glock service weapon through the rear passenger window at a
young woman who’s crouched over the steering wheel?” Parente said.
CBP said in a statement to The Associated Press in response to the suit
that Exum had been placed on administrative leave. Use-of-force
incidents are “thoroughly investigated, reviewed, and presented” to an
independent board, it added.
Exum is not a defendant in the lawsuit against the federal government,
which was filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act and does not allow for
lawsuits against individual agents. It was not known where Exum could be
reached.
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Marimar Martinez, a Chicago woman who was shot by a Border Patrol
agent last year, listens to attorney Christopher Parente at a press
conference Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Body-worn camera footage from another agent in Exum's vehicle before
the shooting captured the agents saying it was “time to get
aggressive” and making other profanity-laced comments encouraging
violence, according to the complaint.
Martinez taken from hospital with bullet holes ‘leaking blood,'
suit says
The FBI arrested Martinez, taking her out of the hospital just hours
after the shooting when she was “wheelchair bound and her bullet
holes were leaking blood through her bandages,” according to the
lawsuit. A judge ordered her release two days after her arrest.
Messages released by Martinez’ attorneys in February showed that
former head of Border Patrol Greg Bovino had praised Exum for his
“excellent service in Chicago” after the shooting. Other messages
they released showed agents in a group chat congratulating Exum and
calling him a “legend.”
Martinez was one several people shot in their cars by federal agents
during President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. An
immigration agent shot a Venezuelan delivery driver in his car in
Austin, Texas, last month, and another shot a Colombian driver in
Biddeford, Maine, in July. The Trump administration has at times
justified such shootings as self-defense against people allegedly
weaponizing their vehicles.
Martinez appeared with her attorneys at a news conference Monday,
saying the various shootings spurred her to file suit.
“If I don’t, then who else, you know? Look at what happened to Renee
and all these victims,” she said, referring to Renee Good, a woman
shot dead in her vehicle by a federal agent in Minneapolis in
January.
“What’s happening is not normal. We shouldn’t stay here and
normalize what’s happening,” she said.
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