DHS says Border Patrol agent was ‘placed on administrative leave’ after shooting Chicago woman 5 times

The Border Patrol agent who shot Chicago’s Marimar Martinez once wrote that his superiors had been supportive of him, “big time.”

U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino praised him after the shooting. The support continued up the chain, he said, from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem up to someone known as “El Jefe himself” — who might even be President Donald Trump.

But Martinez and her attorneys say newly released evidence shows Border Patrol agent Charles Exum lied to justify her shooting. And Wednesday, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said Exum “was placed on administrative leave.”

The spokesperson, who made the comment in an email to the Chicago Sun-Times, did not respond to a follow-up email asking when the leave began, or if it’s still in effect.

While incremental, it’s a notable development that comes after a weekslong campaign by Martinez, who was shot five times by Exum on Oct. 4 on the Southwest Side. Martinez decided to speak out last month after immigration officers in Minneapolis fatally shot Renee Macklin Good and Alex Pretti.

An email from U.s. Border Patrol Cmdr. Greg Bovino to Border Patrol agent Charles Exum after the Oct. 4 shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago.

Hours after Martinez’s shooting last fall, Bovino told Exum in an email he wanted to extend Exum’s retirement “beyond age 57.”

“In light of your excellent service in Chicago,” Bovino wrote, “you have much yet left to do!!”

Exum also testified in November that he’d “never” been suspended by Border Patrol.

Now the CBP spokesperson says “all significant use-of-force incidents are thoroughly investigated, reviewed, and presented to the National Use of Force Review Board.”

Federal prosecutors in Chicago filed assault charges against Martinez after her encounter with Exum. They dropped the case Nov. 20, but Homeland Security officials have refused to rescind previous claims that she is a “domestic terrorist.”

Martinez’s attorneys held a press conference Wednesday to explain how recently released evidence showed that Exum and others lied to justify her shooting. They pointed to a diagram drawn by an agent of the shooting scene.

The drawing depicts three vehicles ahead of Exum’s Chevrolet Tahoe, in addition to Martinez’s Nissan Rogue and a GMC Envoy driven by another man who faced criminal charges.

Video shows the three cars depicted ahead of Exum’s Tahoe “don’t exist,” attorney Christopher Parente said.

A diagram drawn by federal agents of the scene of the Oct. 4 shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago.

He also disputed Exum’s claim to the FBI that Exum fired all five shots at Martinez through her front windshield. Parente said three were fired into the passenger side of her Rogue, a fourth “kicks out the rear passenger window,” and a fifth went from the back of her car through the front passenger seat.

Parente said he’s been told there’s an ongoing investigation into Exum’s conduct by the U.S. Attorney’s office in South Bend, Indiana. But it’s unclear where that investigation stands.

He and other members of Martinez’s legal team said they plan to pursue a Federal Tort Claim Act complaint against Homeland Security and Exum.

“This is a time where you just cannot trust the words of our federal officials,” Parente said.

Evidence in Martinez’s case was released Tuesday by Chicago U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office. It released the records even though it had previously objected to the disclosure of certain evidence, including text messages.

U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis on Friday gave Martinez permission to release the evidence, anyway. By releasing it Tuesday, prosecutors preempted Martinez’s news conference Wednesday.

Parente said they released it “at the eleventh hour in a misguided attempt to take the sting out of just how damaging it is for the government.”

Martinez followed the Tahoe driven by Exum on Oct. 4. She honked her horn, yelled “la migra” and tried to warn people about the agents.

She said she pulled her Rogue beside the Tahoe near 39th and Kedzie, where she said Exum swerved toward her Rogue and their vehicles swiped each other.

In body-worn camera footage from the incident, agents riding in the Tahoe are heard saying “it’s time to get aggressive” and “we’re going to make contact, we’re boxed in.”

Exum appears to turn his steering wheel to the left, toward Martinez’s car, as his Tahoe collided with the Rogue. Exum told the FBI he “veered his vehicle to the left” after the collision “in an attempt to create space.”

However, that undermines the initial claim by Homeland Security that Martinez “rammed” Exum’s Tahoe with her Rogue.

After the collision, an agent can be heard saying “we’ve been struck, we’ve been struck.” Exum also gets out of the vehicle, and five gunshots are heard off-camera.

Martinez said she stopped her Rogue but feared being “manhandled” by the agents, so she drove away. She said she drove to her “farthest left” to avoid the agents climbing out of their vehicle on her right. But as she passed, she said Exum opened fire.

Text messages by Border Patrol agent Charles Exum after the Oct. 4 shooting of Marimar Martinez in Chicago.

Exum wrote in a text message that his superiors had been supportive after the shooting.

“Everyone has been including Chief Bovino, Chief Banks, Sec Noem and El Jefe himself … according to Bovino,” Exum wrote.

The agent even shared a text from someone in Vermont. It said, “good job brother, glad you are unharmed and get to live to tell the story.

“You are a legend among agents you better f—in know that. Beers on me when I see you at training.”