Chicago woman shot 5 times by CBP officer files federal lawsuit
A woman who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago and survived filed a federal civil lawsuit on Monday against the U.S.government as her attorneys allege new evidence shows the agent was not in danger for his life and should face criminal charges.
Marimar Martinez, a teaching aide at a Montessori school, was shot in her car by Customs and Border Protection agent Charles Exum in October 2025.The shooting occurred during the Trump administration’s mass immigration enforcement surge in Chicago last year, known as Operation Midway Blitz.
Monday’s lawsuit filing came a year after Martinez was shot.The lawsuit was filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows citizens to sue the U.S.
federal government.Federal agents cannot be directly sued, the attorneys said.
The lawsuit alleges negligence, battery, assault, intentional affliction, emotional distress, false arrests, false imprisonment, and malicious prosecution, attorney Michael Gallagher said during a news conference Monday.“The reality is the shoot wasn’t justified.She almost lost her life as a result.
She’s been dealing with the physical and mental injuries ever since then,” he said.The attorneys also urged the Department of Justice and local prosecutors to file criminal charges against Exum.The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that consistent with policy, Exum was placed on administrative leave, though it did not immediately say if Exum was still currently on leave.DHS referred all other questions to the Department of Justice, which declined to comment on ongoing litigation.
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