Federal prosecutors moved Thursday to dismiss charges against Marimar Martinez, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent multiple times in Chicago and accused of using her car to assault and impede federal law enforcement.
Martinez and co-defendant Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz pleaded not guilty last month to Justice Department charges that they used “their vehicles to assault, impede, and interfere with the work of federal agents in Chicago.”
Andrew S. Boutros, the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, filed court documents Thursday morning to dismiss the charges about six weeks after an indictment was announced in the high-profile case.
Prosecutors said Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum shot Martinez in self-defense after she and Santos Ruiz allegedly rammed their cars into a federal vehicle on October 4.
“After striking the agents’ vehicle, the defendants’ vehicles boxed in the agents’ vehicle, the complaint states,” prosecutors said in a statement when charges were announced last month. “The agent was unable to move his vehicle and exited the car, at which point he fired approximately five shots from his service weapon at Martinez, the complaint states.”
Martinez’s legal team had argued that it was federal agents who rammed her car with their vehicle and that the shooting was unjustified and an excessive use of force.
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The motion to dismiss in the controversial case comes after it was revealed last week at a court hearing that the Customs and Border Protection agent who shot Martinez multiple times had bragged about it in messages to other officers.
According to Reuters, records presented at the hearing showed that in a group Signal chat with other agents, Exum wrote: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.”
In a message to another recipient, Exum sent a news article about the event followed by the message: “Read it. 5 shots, 7 holes,” Reuters reported.
Christopher Parente, an attorney for Martinez, asked the agent what he meant by those messages. According to records presented earlier this month at a hearing against her, Exum responded: “I’m a firearms instructor and I take pride in my shooting skills.”
Parente and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the motion to dismiss.
DHS said earlier this week that incidents where civilians have allegedly used their cars to strike federal agents or their vehicles have greatly increased.
Martinez’s case was a high-profile example cited by DHS that had led to federal charges. At the time, the agency said Border Patrol officers had been “ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles.”
A court hearing in the case is set for Thursday afternoon.