Duckworth says untrained and highly aggressive agents shot Marimar Martinez and are hiding evidence
Tammy DuckworthU.S. senator (D-IL), in a press release issued the day she met Martinez
Duckworth said untrained and highly aggressive agents shot Martinez and continue to slander her name while hiding evidence, and she called for independent investigations of DHS and the Justice Department.
“Marimar Martinez’s story, as harrowing and horrific as it is, is sadly not an isolated incident. Untrained and highly aggressive agents shot Marimar and continue slandering her name while hiding evidence that could prove they are lying.”
Official statement
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
Official statement
About this source
Sen. Tammy Duckworth's press release dated February 3, 2026, issued the day she met Marimar Martinez and Martinez testified at a congressional public forum on DHS use of force.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Duckworth met Martinez on February 3, 2026, the day Martinez testified at a bicameral congressional public forum on DHS use of force. The release describes Martinez as a U.S. citizen who was shot by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago's Brighton Park neighborhood in October.
After the quotation
The release says Duckworth had asked the DHS and Justice Department inspectors general to investigate use-of-force incidents and that both offices denied the request. It also says federal prosecutors announced they would no longer oppose release of the agents' body camera footage.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case asks whether Agent Charles Exum was justified in shooting Marimar Martinez. Duckworth called Martinez's story harrowing and horrific, said untrained and highly aggressive agents shot her and continue to slander her name while hiding evidence, and called for independent investigations of use-of-force incidents during what she called reckless immigration enforcement surges. That rejects the shooting and the response to it, so the label is Condemned.
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- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
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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The Dispute Index. "Duckworth says untrained and highly aggressive agents shot Marimar Martinez and are hiding evidence". First published: 2026-09-26. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/2793-duckworth-said-untrained-and-highly-aggressive-agents-shot