{"id":303939,"date":"2025-11-20T21:24:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/303939\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T21:24:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T21:24:12","slug":"feds-move-to-drop-charges-against-a-chicago-woman-who-was-shot-7-times-by-a-border-patrol-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/303939\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds move to drop charges against a Chicago woman who was shot 7 times by a Border Patrol agent"},"content":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Federal prosecutors moved Thursday to dismiss charges against a woman who was shot several times by a Border Patrol agent last month during the federal immigration crackdown<\/a> in the Chicago area<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors had accused Marimar Martinez<\/a>, 30, and Anthony Ruiz, 21, of using their vehicles to strike and box in Border Patrol agent Charles Exum\u2019s SUV on Oct. 4 on Chicago\u2019s southwest side. Exum then exited his car and opened fire on Martinez, who suffered seven gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n

Hours before a status hearing, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the two defendants, marking a dramatic reversal in one of the most closely watched cases tied to the crackdown<\/a> in and around the country\u2019s third-largest city.<\/p>\n

In a statement sent to The Associated Press, Martinez\u2019s lawyer, Christopher Parente, praised the U.S. attorney\u2019s office \u201cfor doing the right thing here and dismissing the indictment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney\u2019s office, said the office is \u201cconstantly evaluating new facts and information relating to cases and investigations arising out of Operation Midway Blitz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruiz\u2019s attorneys didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Since \u201cOperation Midway Blitz<\/a> \u2033 began in September, the Department of Homeland Security has characterized protesters as violent rioters and vowed to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. But of the more than two dozen people arrested for impeding or assaulting federal officers or other protest-related offenses, none have gone to trial and charges have been dropped against at least nine of them. Judges have expressed skepticism over the strength of some cases.<\/p>\n

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The case against Martinez and Ruiz wasn\u2019t the only one prosecutors sought to drop Thursday. They also moved to dismiss charges against Dana Briggs, a 70-year-old Army veteran who was arrested last month during a protest outside a federal immigration facility<\/a> in the suburb of Broadview<\/a>, just west of Chicago. Although prosecutors claimed Briggs refused to move and struck a Border Patrol agent\u2019s arm as the agent pushed back a crowd, other protesters and activists offered a contrasting narrative, saying an agent, unprovoked, pushed Briggs to the ground.<\/p>\n

Attorneys say evidence contradicted government\u2019s narrative<\/p>\n

After they were arrested, Martinez and Ruiz were charged with assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon \u2014 a vehicle. No officers were seriously injured.<\/p>\n

In text messages presented as evidence during a Nov. 5 hearing, Exum bragged<\/a> about his marksmanship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes,\u201d the text read. \u201cPut that in your book boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawyers for Martinez and Ruiz have consistently challenged the evidence and pushed for the case to quickly move to a trial.<\/p>\n

Parente claimed body camera footage contradicted with federal prosecutors\u2019 narrative of her actions. He said DHS released \u201cobjectively wrong information,\u201d claiming that Exum had \u201csteered into\u201d Martinez rather than the other way around. He also accused federal authorities of tampering with evidence when Exum was allowed to drive the car, which Parente called \u201ccritical evidence,\u201d back to Maine rather than keeping it in Chicago to be examined.<\/p>\n

Martinez and Ruiz were both released pending trial after a judge noted they had no prior criminal record.<\/p>\n

Fate of detainees in limbo<\/p>\n

Immigration agents have been accused of unnecessarily using force<\/a> during the crackdown, including firing pepper balls and tear gas<\/a> and using other aggressive tactics against protesters. The operation has sparked a public backlash<\/a> and a bevy of lawsuits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted a lower court judge\u2019s order to release on bond hundreds<\/a> of detained immigrants.<\/p>\n

Last week U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings said he would consider a list of more than 600 detainees after determining that the federal government violated a 2022 consent decree<\/a> that outlines how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can make so-called warrantless arrests. <\/p>\n

Without offering details, the federal government objected to dozens as apparent security risks while others had already been deported. That left roughly 400 people to be released as soon as Friday. Detainees, who are being held at jails nationwide, would have been released on alternative forms of detention such as ankle monitoring after each paying a $1,500 bond. <\/p>\n

But the Chicago-based appeals court halted Cummings\u2019 order, saying it will hear arguments in the case on Dec. 2.<\/p>\n

Attorneys for the detainees, including at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said they were disappointed by the appeals court\u2019s decision but would prepare for arguments. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe we still have the opportunity to free our neighbors and reunite families who have been deeply traumatized by the Trump administration\u2019s unlawful actions in our communities,\u201d attorneys said in a statement. <\/p>\n

DHS didn\u2019t immediately respond to a message seeking comment. <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press reporter Sophia Tareen contributed to this report. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO (AP) \u2014 Federal prosecutors moved Thursday to dismiss charges against a woman who was shot several times…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":303940,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,157907,22149,157910,157,157911,2302,157908,12,793,5630,5629,790,3073,157909,157912,4381,2221,152186,3,3775,3766,795,21,792,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-303939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-anthony-ruiz","tag-border-security","tag-charles-exum","tag-chicago","tag-christopher-parente","tag-courts","tag-dana-briggs","tag-donald-trump","tag-general-news","tag-il-state-wire","tag-illinois","tag-immigration","tag-indictments","tag-jeffrey-cummings","tag-joseph-fitzpatrick","tag-law-enforcement","tag-legal-proceedings","tag-local-news-for-apple","tag-news","tag-protests-and-demonstrations","tag-race-and-ethnicity","tag-u-s-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-government","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/303940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}