For months, the Department of Homeland Security pushed a tidy story: a “domestic terrorist” rammed a Border Patrol vehicle and forced an agent to fire in self-defense. That story just imploded.
Newly released body camera footage shows something very different. It shows federal immigration agents cruising through Chicago’s South Side with guns already drawn. It shows one of them saying, “Do something, bitch.” It shows another declaring, “It’s time to get aggressive and get the fuck out.” And then it shows the Border Patrol vehicle swerving directly into Marimar Martinez’s car — before an agent jumps out and fires five shots at her.
That’s not self-defense. That’s escalation.
The footage was released Wednesday after a months-long court fight in the now-dropped DHS criminal case against Martinez, a 30-year-old Chicago Montessori teacher. Martinez had pushed for the evidence to become public, arguing DHS misrepresented what happened.
According to the video, two agents had their guns drawn while driving. Martinez, in a separate vehicle, honked — as did another car behind the agents — apparently alerting people to Border Patrol’s presence. An agent can be heard saying, “We’re gonna make contact and we’re boxed in.” Moments later, driver Charles Exum jerks the steering wheel left, slamming into Martinez’s car.
Then he opens fire.
Border Patrol previously claimed Exum shot Martinez because she rammed their unmarked vehicle. That accusation led DHS to charge her and brand her a domestic terrorist. But the bodycam footage shows the opposite: agents initiated the collision.
Martinez survived. The government’s case against her did not.
Text messages released alongside the footage reportedly show agents and supervisors — including former Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino — celebrating the shooting. DHS eventually dropped the charges but has not retracted its earlier claims.
Martinez’s attorney, Chris Parente, didn’t mince words. “It’s the playbook,” he told CNN. “What do you think the next guys are gonna do? They want to be the shooters.”
He went further: “The reason they’re not helping Ms. [Renee] Good while she’s bleeding out on the streets of Minneapolis is because they’re checking their phones to see if Bovino has emailed them offering them something. It’s disgusting and it will not change until the American people say, ‘Enough is enough, and we want accountability from our elected officials.’”
Exum has been placed on administrative leave pending a use-of-force investigation, DHS said.
Martinez and her legal team are now pursuing action under the Federal Tort Claims Act, the first step toward a civil lawsuit. Earlier this week, she testified before Congress about immigration agents’ use of force against the public.
“Marimar is gonna continue to fight because she’s one of the few people who survived these bullets,” Parente told CNN. “Unfortunately, these guys are excellent marksmen and they’ve been able to kill Ms. Good, they’ve been able to kill Mr. [Alex] Pretti, they killed Silverio Gonzalez here in Chicago.”
The government called her a terrorist. The video tells another story.
Watch the clip below:
The government claimed she rammed Border Patrol agents with her vehicle before an agent shot her five times. But new bodycam video shows the agent turned his steering wheel toward Marimar Martinez and that he was congratulated for "excellent service" after shooting her. pic.twitter.com/qhTeAuHcEE
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) February 12, 2026
