Federal prosecutors on Thursday moved to dismiss assault charges against a woman who was shot by a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent, abruptly retreating from the case after the agent’s text messages bragging about the shooting were presented as evidence in court.
Marimar Martinez, 30, was shot five times during an encounter with Charles Exum, a CBP officer, during an immigration crackdown in Chicago on Oct. 3. The Department of Homeland Security accused Martinez and Anthony Ruiz, 21, of ramming their cars into federal agents and boxing them in, “forcing the officers to fire defensively.”
Martinez and Ruiz were subsequently charged with assaulting a federal officer. In a statement about the incident, DHS referred to them as “domestic terrorists.”
Federal prosecutors’ motion to dismiss, filed Thursday, did not indicate why they are no longer pursuing charges. The change in posture comes after Exum’s text messages were presented as evidence in court earlier this month.
Exum boasted about the incident in a Signal chat with his colleagues, sharing a news story about the shooting and writing that he “fired 5 rounds and [Martinez] had 7 holes” from gunshot wounds. “Put that in your book boys,” he wrote. Exum also texted his brother about the shooting. “Sweet,” he wrote. “My 15 minutes of fame. Lmao.”
Those messages were shown in court on Nov. 6. When questioned about the texts by Martinez’s attorney, Exum said he was a firearms instructor and added, “I take pride in my shooting skills.” Martinez’s attorney also raised the question of why the agent was allowed to drive his government vehicle to Maine and have repairs done to it, instead of preserving it as evidence. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News. Recommended
