DOWNTOWN — A federal judge is allowing the public release of much of the evidence in the case of a woman who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent last year that includes text messages on the agent’s phone.
Marimar Martinez was wounded by federal immigration agents in an October clash in Brighton Park, where residents were protesting the officers’ presence. Agents alleged Martinez chased them and rammed her car into a Border Patrol vehicle, claims Martinez and her attorney disputed. Prosecutors later dropped all charges against her.
Even after the case was dismissed, the Department of Homeland Security and its top officials continued to describe Martinez as a “domestic terrorist” who planned to attack federal agents with her SUV. Martinez’s lawyers say those statements, along with public unrest after the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, justify unsealing evidence to correct misinformation in her case, according to court documents.
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis agreed with Martinez on Friday, ordering the release of roughly 40 text messages from the phone of the Border Patrol agent who shot her, along with body camera footage, emails, FBI reports and 30 days’ worth of images of Martinez’s vehicle taken by Flock cameras leading up to the shooting.
Flock cameras are automated license-plate readers installed under contracts with local police departments, municipalities or private groups such as homeowners associations and used for law enforcement. The company has come under scrutiny from organizations like the ACLU that say its data-sharing policies raise major privacy concerns.
In a court filing this week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Bond urged Alexakis to block the release of text messages between Border Patrol agent Charles Exum, who shot Martinez, and his wife, brother and coworkers. Bond said releasing the messages would unfairly “sully” Exum and his family without meaningfully advancing Martinez’s effort to respond to Homeland Security statements labeling her a “domestic terrorist.”
On Friday, Alexakis called the text messages “clearly relevant,” explaining that they “communicate [Exum’s] impression of the relevant events.” The judge also said she was unsympathetic to the “sullying” of Exum’s reputation, citing previous court testimony in which he expressed pride in his own shooting skills.
Body camera footage also showed one of the agents saying, “Do something, b — ,” before Martinez was shot, according to her attorney.
“I don’t understand why the government has expressed zero concern about the sullying of Ms. Martinez’s reputation … she’s a U.S. citizen … she’s presumed innocent until proven guilty,” Alexakis said, explaining Martinez will never be found guilty because the case was dismissed.
Alexakis declined to release any license plate reader images in the case, citing privacy concerns for unrelated vehicles. She also ordered that the names of third parties in Exum’s text messages, such as his wife, remain redacted.
“We’re very happy that the judge saw the way that we see it,” said Chris Parente, Martinez’s lawyer, during a post-hearing press conference. “You can’t call a U.S. citizen with no criminal history, who’s a Montessori school teacher, a domestic terrorist — which is such a loaded word in this country — and repeat it over and over as late as yesterday.”
Martinez declined to make any public statements Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security said in an email to Block Club Chicago that it stands by its statements when asked about continuously calling Martinez a “domestic terrorist.”
“DHS stands by our press releases and statements. The facts of what happened did not change,” the statement read.
Parente said he plans to meet with lawyers this weekend from the U.S. Attorney’s Office to properly redact third-party information as ordered by the judge. Parente estimated that evidence could be publicly released no earlier than Monday.
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