Woman shot by Border Patrol in Chicago seeks release of body cam video, agent text messages

Woman shot by Border Patrol in Chicago seeks release of body cam video and evidence

A woman shot five times by a federal agent in Brighton Park is asking a judge to release more evidence from her case.

CHICAGO - A woman who was shot five times by a federal agent in Chicago last fall is asking a judge to release additional evidence from the case, including body camera video and text messages.

What we know:

A hearing is scheduled for Friday morning in federal court, where a judge will consider whether to lift a protective order that restricts the public release of evidence gathered during the investigation. 

Federal prosecutors have said they would allow the release of body camera video if agents’ faces are blurred, but they oppose making agents’ text messages public.

The woman, Marimar Martinez, was shot by Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum in October following a vehicle collision involving federal agents assigned to Operation Midway Blitz. All criminal charges against Martinez were later dropped, but her attorney said the Department of Homeland Security continues to label her a domestic terrorist.

Martinez’s legal team argues that releasing the evidence is necessary to protect her reputation. The motion to lift the protective order was filed last month, shortly after Martinez testified before Congress about the shooting, drawing national attention to her case.

What they're saying:

During court proceedings, Martinez’s attorney cited text messages allegedly sent by one of the agents involved, saying the messages show the agent boasting about shooting her. Martinez said seeing the messages was deeply disturbing.

"As my attorney showed the court the disgusting text messages Exum sent to his fellow border patrol buddies, literally bragging about how many times he shot me, I got sick to my stomach seeing how a federal law enforcement officer would talk this way about shooting me," Martinez said in her testimony on Capitol Hill.

What's next:

A federal judge is expected to rule on whether any of the additional evidence can be released following the hearing, which is set for 9:30 a.m.