Martinez sues over Chicago shooting by Border Patrol agent

Marimar Martinez filed a federal civil lawsuit against the United States on October 5, 2026, over the October 4, 2025, shooting in Chicago in which Border Patrol agent Charles Exum shot her five times. Her attorneys also urged federal and local authorities to bring criminal charges against Exum, citing a reconstruction they commissioned that they say indicates Martinez was driving away when he fired. The competing accounts of the vehicle’s direction have not been resolved in court. The lawsuit, filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, seeks damages and alleges negligence, battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution, false arrest and false imprisonment. Federal agents generally cannot be sued directly for actions taken in the line of duty, so the United States is named as the defendant. The amount of damages sought was not specified in the reports. Martinez’s lawyers said their expert compared video footage with damage to the vehicle and Martinez’s wounds to reconstruct the shooting. They contend the evidence shows Exum was beside the vehicle and that it was moving away from him as he fired.