An attorney’s courtroom statement that body-camera footage captures a Border Patrol agent saying “Do something, b––” before shooting a woman five times in Chicago’s Brighton Park has cast doubt on the official government account of the incident, raising questions about the use of force, conflicting narratives, and the expanding presence of federal agents in the city under President Donald Trump’s “Operation Midway Blitz.”
The woman, 30-year-old Marimar Martinez, was shot on October 4 after reportedly following Border Patrol vehicles that had just conducted an operation in nearby Oak Lawn. Federal prosecutors allege Martinez and another driver, 21-year-old Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, pursued the agents “aggressively” in separate cars, disobeying traffic signals and driving in what they described as a “convoy” of multiple vehicles. Both were charged Sunday with felony assault of a federal officer.
In court Monday, Martinez’s attorney Christopher Parente said the video contradicts the government’s version of events. He told the court the footage shows a Border Patrol agent turning a federal vehicle into Martinez’s car before the agent can be heard saying, “Do something, b––.” The agent then exits the vehicle and opens fire, striking Martinez at least five times.
The shooting, Parente said, left Martinez with “seven holes” in her body. He told the court that agents were “in such a hurry to take her into custody at the hospital that they had to return later when Martinez began bleeding from her wounds.”
Prosecutors, however, offered a starkly different account. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Hennessy said Martinez and Ruiz followed Border Patrol agents for 20 to 30 minutes, honking and broadcasting a portion of the pursuit live on Facebook. He claimed that Martinez had a loaded firearm on the passenger side of her car but “never brandished it.” Parente confirmed his client legally owned the firearm and has a concealed-carry license.
The Department of Homeland Security had previously claimed that a “loaded gun” was found in Martinez’s vehicle, but that detail was not mentioned in the criminal complaint filed against her and Ruiz.
In court, Parente emphasized that prosecutors failed to present the video to the judge, arguing it directly disputes the government’s description of what happened. “I think there’s a danger to the community, but I don’t think it’s Ms. Martinez,” he said.
U.S. District Judge Heather McShain denied a request by prosecutors to detain Martinez and Ruiz pending trial. “It is a miracle to me that no one was more seriously injured,” McShain said, but she cited the defendants’ lack of criminal history and “extensive family and community ties” as reasons to release them.
Martinez, a U.S. citizen and school employee, had several letters of support submitted to the court. Ruiz, also a U.S. citizen, works as a self-employed DJ, according to his attorney Ben Horowitz.
Security footage from a nearby tire shop captured three of the vehicles involved shortly before the shooting. The video shows a white Chevy Tahoe driven by Border Patrol agents being closely followed by a silver Nissan Rogue, identified as Martinez’s car, and a black GMC Envoy driven by Ruiz. At one point, the Nissan pulls alongside the Tahoe, briefly crossing into an oncoming lane. The shooting itself is not captured on camera.
Moments after being struck, Martinez drove her bullet-riddled Nissan to Big Rig Oil Pros at 35th Street and California Avenue, where she sought help. The shop’s manager, who asked not to be named, described the scene in vivid detail. Employees “led a bleeding Martinez to a chair in the shop’s office,” he said. A trucker called 911 while workers used blue shop towels to stanch the bleeding. “Send somebody quick because this lady is bleeding profusely. … I mean, it was instant puddles,” the manager told the 911 operator.
When paramedics arrived, they applied tourniquets to Martinez’s leg and arm. “A bullet fell out of her arm and onto the shop’s floor,” the manager said. Martinez was transported by ambulance while FBI agents arrived and taped off the scene.
The incident triggered immediate community outrage. Roughly 100 people gathered in Brighton Park later that day to protest the shooting. Federal agents responded by firing pepper balls and tear gas at demonstrators.
The Brighton Park shooting was one of several confrontations between federal agents and residents in the Chicago area since Trump launched “Operation Midway Blitz,” a coordinated immigration enforcement effort that has expanded into local neighborhoods. Over the weekend, the president announced that hundreds of National Guard troops — including forces from outside Illinois — would be deployed to Chicago to support the operation, a move opposed by rights organizations and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker.
Christopher Parente’s account of the body-camera footage prompted renewed criticism of federal conduct and oversight. Researcher Jonathan Cohn, political director of Progressive Mass, said the emerging evidence “really makes it sounds like” the agent “tried to murder an anti-ICE protester in Chicago and DHS lied to cover for him.” He added, “We need a zero tolerance policy for lying by law enforcement.”
Officials in Chicago and Illinois filed a lawsuit Monday challenging Trump’s deployment of the National Guard, arguing that Americans “should not live under the threat of occupation by the United States military.” A separate lawsuit filed by protesters and journalists accused federal agents of having “shot, gassed, and detained individuals” for exercising their First Amendment rights.
Shortly after the hearing, the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of other drivers allegedly involved in the pursuit. The agencies said about 10 vehicles took part in the incident and alleged that a black Chevy Tahoe with Illinois license plate EM 62829 repeatedly rammed a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle on the 3700 block of South Kedzie. That driver remains at large.
As of Monday evening, federal officials had not publicly commented on the body-camera footage. The video’s release, if confirmed, could prove pivotal in determining whether Border Patrol officers’ use of force conformed with federal policy or crossed the line into misconduct.
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