Marimar Martinez, a Chicago woman who was shot five times by an immigration agent, sued the federal government Monday for damages, with her attorneys saying new analysis of the scene will prove the officer shot her as she was turning her car away from him.
Martinez was initially charged in the wake of her shooting by Border Patrol agent Charles Exum. The suit alleges false arrest and imprisonment, malicious prosecution, emotional distress, and negligence.
Martinez’s attorneys took the unusual step of hiring a crime scene analyst in advance of bringing the case.
“We know in this day and age, with 40 [to] 50 percent of America believing everything that comes out of the mouth of a DOJ [Department of Justice] or the current administration’s representative, that we need to show objective proof from Jump Street. We need to show them that their lies are done today, that they can’t twist the truth or keep spinning it because that ends,” said Michael Gallagher, one of the attorneys bringing the case, in a Chicago press conference.
“So with this investigation and this kind of analysis, we think we’ve done that.”
Shortly after the shooting, the Department of Homeland Security called Martinez a domestic terrorist and said she had tried to attack Exum with her car.
Martinez’s legal team walked through the analysis, noting that shots entered through the passenger side of her front windshield and then later through the side of her car, details they say defy Exum’s explanation that he fired as her vehicle was heading towards him.
“It’s actual, concrete physical evidence and science by an independent expert that shows the agent lied about where he was, and Marimar has been telling the truth,” said Chris Parente, another of Martinez’s attorneys.
The suit, brought under the Federal Tortious Claims Act, does not ask for specific damages and Gallagher said they are most interested in bringing the case to trial before a judge.
“We don’t expect them to ever offer any type of money, which is fine by us. We prefer the verdict,” he said.
Martinez said once the charges against her were dropped, she was prepared to let the matter go until there were two more fatalities at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis.
“Look at what happened to Renee and all these victims. So I won’t stop. I have a voice, and I do matter, and I don’t want it to keep happening. I don’t. I just don’t. So I want to spread awareness because what’s happening is not normal. We shouldn’t stay here and normalize what’s happening,” Martinez said.
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