Federal prosecutors on Thursday moved to dismiss charges against a woman who was shot multiple times by a Maine-based Border Patrol agent during an immigration enforcement operation on Chicago’s southwest side last month.
Marimar Martinez, 30, had been accused alongside co-defendant Anthony Ruiz, 21, of using their vehicles to ram and box in the SUV of Border Patrol agent Charles Exum on October 4 during the federal crackdown in the city’s Brighton Park neighborhood.
Agent Exum, who is stationed in Maine, exited his vehicle and opened fire on Martinez, striking her seven times. He was in Chicago as part of a federal immigration enforcement operation known as “Operation Midway Blitz.”
The U.S. Border Patrol deployed agents, including those stationed in other states, such as Maine, to assist in a large scale federal crackdown targeting immigration violations in and around Chicago.
Martinez was later charged with assaulting federal officers, and Ruiz faced similar allegations. Both were held as their case became one of the most closely watched legal proceedings stemming from the federal operation in the Chicago area.
Hours before a scheduled status hearing Thursday, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges against both defendants, marking a significant reversal in the case.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Martinez’s attorney, Christopher Parente, commended the U.S. Attorney’s office “for doing the right thing here and dismissing the indictment.” Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesperson for the office, said prosecutors are “constantly evaluating new facts and information relating to cases and investigations arising out of Operation Midway Blitz.”
Martinez, who had been hospitalized and later released from federal custody after the shooting, was greeted by family members when she left the Metropolitan Correctional Center on October 6.
