DOJ moves to dismiss assault charge against woman shot by Border Patrol agent in Chicago

Justice Department prosecutors moved to dismiss assault charges on Thursday against a woman who was shot by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago amid the federal immigration crackdown.

Prosecutors filed the motion just hours before a status hearing in the case regarding Marimar Martinez, 30, and Anthony Ruiz, 21, The Associated Press reported.

Martinez’s lawyer, Christopher Parente, praised the U.S. attorney’s office “for doing the right thing here and dismissing the indictment.” The U.S. attorney’s office and lawyers for Ruiz did not immediately respond to the AP's requests for comment.

Federal prosecutors had accused Martinez and Ruiz of using their vehicles to strike and box in Border Patrol agent Charles Exum’s vehicle on Oct. 4 in Chicago. Exum then exited his car and shot at Martinez, who suffered seven gunshot wounds.

The agent allegedly bragged about his shooting skills afterward, according to texts presented as evidence during a Nov. 5 hearing.

“I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes,” the text read. “Put that in your book boys.”

Martinez and Ruiz faced charges of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon, a vehicle. No officers suffered serious injuries.

Parente claimed body camera footage contradicted the DOJ’s narrative of Martinez's actions. He said the Department of Homeland Security released “objectively wrong information,” and he claimed that Exum “steered into” Martinez rather than vice versa. The lawyer also accused federal authorities of tampering with evidence when Exum was allowed to drive the car back to Maine rather than keep it in Chicago to be examined.

Both Martinez and Ruiz were released pending trial after a judge noted they had no prior criminal record.

DHS has characterized people who have protested its illegal immigration crackdown as violent rioters and vowed to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. However, 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.