A federal prosecutor revealed in court Tuesday that despite assault charges being dismissed, a separate criminal investigation remains ongoing into an incident in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood last month where a woman was shot by a Border Patrol agent.
The exact nature of the probe was not revealed, though it seems to center on the agent involved in the shooting of Marimar Martinez on Oct. 4 after her car collided with the agent’s vehicle in what became one of the highest-profile incidents of Operation Midway Blitz.
Martinez, who was wounded seven times in the shooting, had been accused of intentionally ramming the agents’ vehicle. But the U.S. attorney’s office dismissed all charges against her last week after it was revealed the agent, Charles Exum, bragged about his marksmanship in text messages to his agent buddies, including one that said, “I fired 5 shots and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.”
Media outlets including the Tribune have since requested the release of Exum’s unredacted text messages as well as footage from his body camera showing what led up to the crash.
During a hearing on that request Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald DeWald confirmed that Martinez’s car was still being held by federal investigators due to a pending investigation, which he characterized as criminal in nature.
He said the investigation had been referred to another U.S. attorney’s office in a different district due to his office’s involvement in the Martinez probe — a standard protection against any conflicts of interest.
DeWald told the judge there was no other information he could share “at this time.”
But Martinez’s attorney, Christopher Parente, said “to the extent it’s a criminal investigation, it’s not into Mrs. Martinez. So that part is clear.”
“I’ve received a lot of calls wondering if some other office is investigating Ms. Martinez,” Parente said. “I just want to be clear they’re not. This is a criminal investigation of someone other than Mrs. Martinez. I don’t know who it is. I’m trying to get information. It’s the South Bend U.S. attorney’s office I’ve been told.”
Parente said that based on his limited knowledge of what’s going on behind the scenes, they would not be demanding Martinez’s vehicle back while the probe was pending “because we support it.”
He also said the agent’s text messages “are probably going to be potentially pertinent in that other investigation if it’s the investigation I suspect it might be.”
Among the evidence gleaned from Martinez’s car in the days after the shooting was the trajectory of bullets fired by Exum, as well as paint scrapes and other damage done in the collision, which Martinez’s legal team has previously claimed was actually caused by Exum sideswiping Martinez.
U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis asked DeWald to respond in writing to the motion for the release of body camera footage by Dec. 5.
The Tribune could not immediately reach anyone at the South Bend U.S. attorney’s office for comment.
Martinez was part of a convoy of civilians who were documenting the actions of immigration agents when the collision with Exum’s vehicle occurred near 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue, prompting Exum to jump out of his Chevrolet Tahoe and fire five shots, wounding Martinez seven times.
Martinez’s attorneys argued it was Exum who sideswiped Martinez and that his extreme use of force was completely unjustified. They’ve also alleged evidence tampering, saying Exum was inexplicably allowed to drive the Tahoe more than 1,000 miles back to his home base in Maine, where a Border Patrol mechanic attempted to “wipe off” some of the scuff marks from the crash.
In a bombshell hearing earlier this month, it was revealed that after the shooting, as news of the incident was making national headlines, Exum texted a group of other agents that he was “up for another round of “f––– around and find out.”
In his court testimony Nov. 5, Exum described the circle of fellow agents he chatted with as a sort of support group for “relieving stress.”
“And what did you mean by ‘Read it. 5 shots?’” asked Parente. “Why are you pointing that fact out?”
“I’m a firearms instructor,” Exum answered. “And I take pride in my shooting skills.”
“You take pride in your shooting skills?” Parente clarified.
“That is correct,” Exum said.
Exum also testified the shooting was well within departmental guidelines on use of force, and that he’d not been disciplined in any way.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
