Lawyers for Marimar Martínez, who was shot by a border agent in Chicago, say officials 'created a culture of violence' among agents
Published in News & Features
CHICAGO — Lawyers for Marimar Martínez, the Chicago woman shot by a Border Patrol agent in October, said Wednesday evidence released this week “shows the world” that Trump administration officials “have created a culture of violence among their agents” where the shootings of U.S. citizens are “embraced, celebrated and promoted.”
Investigative materials made public Tuesday showed that after shooting Martínez five times on Oct. 4, Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum joked about it in a text chat with colleagues, was called a “legend” by one of his fellow agents, and received praise directly from his boss, Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino, as Martínez lay badly wounded in a hospital.
“As Marimar was fighting for her life in the hospital, Greg Bovino was promoting the agent without any investigation being done into the shooting,” Martínez’s lead attorney, Christopher Parente, said Wednesday.
Parente said the evidence shed light on the actions of Bovino’s agents in later operations in Minneapolis, where residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti were killed in incidents eerily similar to Martínez’s.
“This is why after agents shot Renee Good in cold blood on the streets of Minneapolis they did not attempt to perform CPR,” Parente said. “They were all checking their phones to see what reward commander Bovino was going to give them for successfully killing another protester.”
The evidence offered a rare, behind-the-scenes look at one of the highest-profile investigations of Operation Midway Blitz, where Trump administration officials, in a playbook that has now become familiar in other cities, almost immediately labeled of Martínez as a “domestic terrorist” after she was shot — a narrative the government has refused to retract even after assault charges against Martínez were dropped.
Among the trove of evidence was an email sent by Bovino at 3:11 p.m. on the day of the shooting.
“Good afternoon,” read the email. “I would like to extend an offer to you to extend your retirement beyond age 57 ... In light of your excellent service in Chicago, you have much left to do!!”
Exum, meanwhile, exchanged a series of texts with his wife as well as a group of fellow agents under the name “Posse Chat.” In one of them, someone Exum identified as “the guy from Vermont” wrote, “Good job brother, glad you are unharmed and get to live to tell the story.”
“You are a legend among agents you better (expletive) know that. Beers on me when I see you at training,” the agent texted Exum, the records show.
At a news conference Wednesday, Parente said it matters that the public can now see the “real evidence as opposed to the false claims of our government.”
“We live in a strange time right now, where we cannot trust our government,” he told reporters.
Parente called the news conference to announce civil litigation against the federal government in the case.
That process would begin Wednesday with the filing of a federal torts claim with the Department of Justice. If there’s no response, Martínez’s attorneys will file a federal civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court.
Attorney Michael Gallagher said they would be asking for “tens of millions of dollars” in damages.
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