Shot by Border Patrol

Woman shot by Border Patrol officer after allegedly trying to ram them with car will appear in court today

From CNN's Andy Rose

Marimar Martinez, an American citizen who was shot by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago last Saturday during an altercation, will appear in court Friday to face a charge of “forcibly assaulting, impeding, and interfering with a federal law enforcement officer.”

Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin described the shooting as “defensive” and claimed the suspect was “armed with a semi-automatic weapon.” But Martinez’s attorney, Christopher Parente, told CNN on Monday the federal agents were being provocative.

Parente said body camera footage of the incident showed a Customs and Border Protection vehicle swerving into his client’s car, not the other way around as the charging document says. He also claimed the video shows one agent saying to another, “Do something, b**ch” before engaging with Martinez.

“To me, that’s someone looking for a problem,” he said.

Parente acknowledged Martinez had a handgun in her purse at the time of the incident but says his client – who has a concealed-carry license – did not brandish it and has no criminal record.

CNN has requested the CBP body camera video, but federal authorities have not released it. Parente is not allowed to share a copy of the video because it is covered under a protective order from the court.

In a criminal complaint, Martinez was described as part of a “convoy of civilian vehicles” that was “aggressively” following a Chevy Tahoe with three Border Patrol agents inside through Chicago streets, attempting to “box-in the CBP Vehicle.”

After the vehicle was sideswiped by Martinez, according to an FBI affidavit, a Border Patrol agent exited their SUV and fired on the car driven by Martinez five times.

Martinez drove to a repair shop a mile away, according to the complaint, and called 911. She was taken by ambulance to a local hospital, where a nurse said she was treated for gunshot wounds, the complaint states. Martinez was later released from the hospital and is free on a $10,000 bond.