DHS calls the encounter an ambush
U.S. Department of Homeland SecurityFederal department responsible for Border Patrol and immigration enforcement
DHS said Martinez and others ambushed and rammed agents, framing the gunfire as a response to an attack.
“Border Patrol law enforcement officers were ambushed by domestic terrorists that rammed federal agents with their vehicles.”
Original text
Where this statement fits
Was Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum justified in shooting Marimar Martinez?
On October 4, 2025, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum fired five rounds at Marimar Martinez’s vehicle during a confrontation involving the agents’ SUV and two civilian vehicles in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood. A federal complaint alleged that Martinez and another driver struck and boxed in the agents’ vehicle and that Martinez then drove toward Exum. Martinez said Exum steered into her vehicle and shot her as she drove past or away. She sustained seven gunshot wounds. Federal prosecutors later dismissed the charges against Martinez with prejudice. An Illinois Accountability Commission review concluded that available video, photographs and witness evidence indicated Martinez was stationary or driving away and found reasonable cause to investigate a shooting without apparent justification. No publicly identified recording continuously captures the collision and gunfire, and no court has adjudicated whether Exum’s use of force was lawful. The dispute is whether Martinez posed an imminent threat when Exum fired.
Source and context
Original text
About this source
Official Illinois Accountability Commission investigation brief based on available body-camera and surveillance material, vehicle photographs, witness interviews, court records and public reporting. It concluded there was reasonable cause for further investigation; it is not a criminal or civil judgment.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
DHS issued its account shortly after the Brighton Park shooting.
After the quotation
Later video, ballistics evidence and witness accounts were cited by Martinez’s lawyers and state investigators to dispute that account.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The department’s account supplies the asserted justification for the agents’ use of force.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Marimar Martinez
More from this case
Read the full caseParente says the shooting cannot be justified after presenting a reconstruction
“In what world could you justify that?”Read statement
Martinez says the violence should not become normal
“I want to spread awareness, because what's happening is not normal. We shouldn't stay here and normalize what's happening.”Read statement
Christopher Parente says reconstruction contradicts Exum's account
“He was behind it and shot her through the back”Read statement
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- DHS calls the encounter an ambush
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The Dispute Index. "DHS calls the encounter an ambush". First published: 2026-09-22. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1492-dhs-said-martinez-and-others-ambushed-and-rammed