A federal agent who shot a Chicago woman multiple times after she allegedly rammed his vehicle bragged about his shooting skills in text messages — a detail raising serious questions about how justice is handled when law enforcement faces politically charged situations.
The October 4 shooting involved U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Charles Exum and U.S. citizen Marimar Martinez, who was reportedly warning others about immigration enforcement agents in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighborhood. After a collision between their vehicles, Exum fired five rounds, hitting Martinez five times.
Federal prosecutors claim the shooting was self-defense. Martinez, however, told investigators that the agent’s SUV rammed her car before he opened fire.
In a Signal group chat with other federal agents, Exum wrote: “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.” In another message, he sent a news article about the incident with the note: “Read it. 5 shots, 7 holes.”
When asked about the messages, Exum shrugged it off, saying, “I’m a firearms instructor and I take pride in my shooting skills.”
The story gets worse. After the incident, Exum drove his government-issued Chevy Tahoe more than 1,000 miles to Maine — where CBP mechanics repaired the vehicle before defense attorneys could examine it. Key evidence, including paint and impact marks, may have been destroyed.
Emails show Exum’s supervisor approved the repairs, though Exum later claimed an FBI agent “made a mistake” in reporting that he had requested them himself.
Martinez’s attorneys argued that Exum’s experience should have told him to preserve the vehicle as evidence. Exum said the FBI released the Tahoe to him, so he assumed it wasn’t needed.
The shooting sparked protests on Chicago’s southwest side. Agents responded with tear gas, adding to tensions already high during “Operation Midway Blitz” — the Trump administration’s surge in immigration enforcement across the city.
While the left paints Trump’s immigration crackdown as “draconian,” conservatives see it as restoring law and order to a city drowning in chaos. And this case — no matter how the facts unfold — shows how even the people tasked with enforcing America’s laws are caught in the middle of the nation’s deep political divide.