The woman who survived five gunshots from a Border Patrol agent in Chicago last fall, only to be criminally charged and then cleared, now wants a judge’s permission to share evidence that shows how the feds respond when “their agents use deadly force against U.S. citizens.”
Marimar Martinez’s lawyer argued Monday that top Trump administration officials continue to smear her name, and that the White House’s false narrative about her arrest has even seeped into writings by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.
All the while, a standard court order bars Martinez from sharing records in her case, such as body-camera footage and electronic communications. Designed to protect against the improper disclosure of evidence, attorney Chris Parente said the order has instead become “a prophylactic to countering a pernicious misinformation campaign mounted by the United States.”
“They are forcing the public, and Supreme Court justices, to have to rely solely on the government’s inaccurate version of events,” Parente wrote. “This court has the power to shed light on the truth of what happened on October 4.”
The Chicago Sun-Times and other media organizations have also gone to court seeking access to evidence in Martinez’s case.
Martinez’s hands are tied by what’s known as a “protective order” issued in October by U.S. Magistrate Judge Heather McShain. It’s routine and meant to govern the handling of evidence in a criminal case. Parente did not object to it at the time.
But now, he said it’s “become an albatross” around Martinez’s neck and “keeps the entire country in the dark about how [Homeland Security] responds to lethal force incidents by their agents, which have now unfortunately become a weekly occurrence.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officer Jonathan Ross fatally shot Renee Macklin Good on Jan. 7. Then, on Saturday, a Border Patrol officer shot and killed Illinois native Alex Pretti. Both shootings occurred in Minneapolis. Senior administration officials in both cases labeled the victims as “domestic terrorists.”
Border Patrol agent Charles Exum shot Martinez Oct. 4, during the immigration campaign in Chicago known as Operation Midway Blitz. Exum fired five shots at Martinez resulting in seven wounds and later bragged “put that in your book boys” in a text message.
Federal prosecutors filed an assault charge against Martinez but moved to dismiss it Nov. 20. She is among 32 known federal defendants charged with nonimmigration crimes tied to Operation Midway Blitz.
Fifteen of those defendants have been cleared. No member of the group has been convicted.
Even though charges were dropped against Martinez, she is described “to this day” on the Homeland Security website as a “domestic terrorist,” Parente wrote.
It’s unclear if Parente’s bid to modify the order will be handled by McShain or U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis, who handled substantive matters in the case. Parente filed his motion with Alexakis but said he’d consent to proceeding before McShain.
Federal prosecutors told Parente they would need more time to consider whether to object, according to his filing.
The news program “60 Minutes” aired a piece this month about the incident involving Martinez, and DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CBS “Border Patrol law enforcement officers were ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles,” Parente said.
The government narrative has even reached the Supreme Court, Parente complained. Alito cited the allegations in a strongly worded dissent in December in support of President Donald Trump’s ability to deploy National Guard troops in Illinois against the will of Gov. JB Pritzker.
“The ability to disseminate the factual evidence about the events of October 4 and DHS’s response to Ms. Martinez’s shooting is of the utmost importance to Ms. Martinez, and frankly to the entire country at this tragic time in our nation’s history,” Parente wrote.
“Ms. Martinez has no convictions nor pending criminal charges, but is still publicly degraded as a domestic terrorist by her own government.”