Immediately after the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security came to the defense of the agent who shot Martinez, Charles Exum. Agency He claimed In an incident report, Martinez was blocking customers and “rammed” them with her car. The agency described her as a “domestic terrorist.”
Martinez, who survived the shooting, was charged with assaulting officers and has pleaded not guilty.
The government’s case was fatally undermined in November when it was undermined open During a hearing in which Exum bragged to friends about hitting Martinez via text message: “She fired five shots, and she had seven holes. Put that in your book, kids,” he said.
Martinez’s attorneys also said body camera footage — which was preserved under a federal protective order — showed a different series of events than what the agency depicted.
In November, federal prosecutors dropped the case against Martinez without explanation. But even after that, federal officials continued to label her a terrorist.
“This is before any investigation is conducted,” her attorney, Chris Parente, said. Argue That the public should be able to see the evidence for themselves.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago Released Body camera footage from two other agents involved in the incident — Adam J. Perkins and Lorenzo Cordero — as well as dozens of other Exum emails and text messages from the aftermath.
With their release, “people can actually see the real evidence instead of the false claims by our government,” said Parente, who presented the evidence at a news conference Wednesday alongside Martinez and her other lawyers.
He said The release after several months of keeping the footage buried was a “misguided attempt to dismiss the extent of the damage I had done to the government.”
Block Club Chicagowho reviewed the body camera footage, He explained It “contradicts the incident report’s narrative” that Martinez was the aggressor. Rather, it appears that she was trying to get away and that the agents chose to run her over.
Cordero and Perkins show their weapons drawn and point out the rear passenger window about one minute before crashing and shooting Martinez.
“It’s time to get aggressive” and “We’re going to call, we’re surrounded,” can be heard by one of the three agents before Exum is seen pulling the wheel to the left and slamming into Martinez’s car.
After the collision, Exum was seen exiting the vehicle and firing five shots within two seconds.
The body camera footage corroborates the claims of Martinez’s attorneys, who said that after drawing their weapons, one of the agents can be heard saying, “Do something, bitch.”
It also provides support for the attorneys’ claims about text messages sent by the agents after the shooting. Exum was seen bragging about the shooting, calling it “a great new scenario to add to our training.” Other customers sent messages praising him: one described him as a “legend among customers.” Another said: “Good job bro, glad you weren’t hurt.” A third said: “Beer is on me.”
Exum responded with the phrase “play and find out” which was commonly used slogan Inside the Trump administration to justify killings by law enforcement and the military.
Exum also discussed the “overwhelming” support he was receiving from senior officials in the Trump administration. He said “everyone” was “supportive,” including then-Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino, Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and even “El Giffey himself,” likely referring to President Donald Trump.
Less than four hours after the shooting, Exum received an email from Bovino, who offered to extend his retirement age beyond 57 and praised his “excellent service to Chicago.”
On Wednesday, the same day the new evidence was released, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said L said Chicago Sun-Times Exum has now been placed on administrative leave. They did not clarify how long the leave would last or when it began.
Parente said the smear of Martinez as a terrorist fits a pattern that the Trump administration has since used to justify other shootings by agents.
“We live in a strange time now where we can’t trust our federal government,” he said. “Within an hour of the actual incident, DHS described [Martinez] Domestic terrorist. The same thing they did with Renee Goode. The same thing they did to Mr. [Alex] Pretty,” referring to two other American citizens who were shot dead last month by agents in Minneapolis.
Martinez announced plans to sue the federal government and Exum for “tens of millions of dollars,” citing physical injuries to her right leg, right forearm, and chest; damage to reputation; And emotional harm.
During a hearing earlier this month on Capitol Hill about violent use of force by Department of Homeland Security agents, she said described Shooting as an attempted “execution”.
“I looked down and noticed blood pouring from my arms and legs, and I realized I had been shot multiple times,” she said. “What happened to me in a matter of seconds on October 4th will unfortunately stay with me for the rest of my life.”
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