'Excellent Service': New Evidence Shows Border Patrol Top Officials Praised Agent for Shooting Chicago Woman

The most chilling line in the newly released evidence isn't one of the gunshots. It's the praise.

Hours after a Chicago woman lay in hospital with bullet wounds, a senior Border Patrol official emailed the agent who fired the shots to applaud his 'excellent service' and urge him not to retire.

In the bureaucratic language of 'support' and 'service,' the email reads like a commendation. In human terms, it feels like something else entirely: the system closing ranks before it has even looked properly at itself.

This week, federal prosecutors released a trove of material from the Border Patrol shooting of Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old US citizen, after a judge ordered key evidence unsealed.

The release includes body-worn camera footage from another agent at the scene, text messages sent by the shooter, and internal emails that reveal how quickly top officials rallied around him.

Martinez had been charged with assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers—allegations prosecutors dropped after the government's own handling of the case crumbled in court.

Evidence Upends The Government Narrative

The shooting happened on 4 October, during an immigration enforcement surge in Chicago that authorities referred to as Operation Midway Blitz. Prosecutors initially alleged Marimar Martinez rammed a federal vehicle, prompting the agent, Charles Exum, to open fire in self-defence.

Martinez has said she followed Border Patrol vehicles but denied wrongdoing and has argued the agents' SUV struck her vehicle and that she tried to avoid Exum as he exited.

The newly released bodycam footage—captured from inside a federal Chevy Tahoe—shows agents with weapons drawn moments before the collision and shooting. One agent is heard saying, 'It's time to get aggressive,' and another voice is heard using profanity; shortly after the vehicles collide, gunshots ring out within seconds of the driver exiting.

A key detail, according to Martinez's attorney Christopher Parente, is what is not on video. Parente said Exum had a body camera but it was not turned on at the time of the shooting. 'All of this could have been avoided,' Parente argued, because it would have shown Martinez did not drive at Exum and that he fired as she passed by.​

Parente's broader point is about credibility: 'It matters that people can actually see the real evidence, as opposed to the false claims by our government,' he said at a news conference.​

Fallout Shows Culture Of Impunity

The most politically explosive material is not cinematic video. It's the paperwork.

Among the documents is an email from Gregory Bovino, then a top Border Patrol official, to Exum after the shooting. Bovino offered to delay retirement past the customary retirement age—'in light of your excellent service in Chicago'—and added: 'You have much yet left to do!!' CBS Chicago reported the email was time-stamped a few hours after the shooting, while Martinez was still in hospital recovering from multiple gunshot wounds.

Then there are the texts. In one exchange cited in the reporting, Exum says he's receiving support 'big time,' and a message references backing from 'Chief Bovino' and others. Parente has said his team believes 'El Jefe' mentioned in the texts is a reference to President Donald Trump—an inference, not a confirmed identification.

The case also became tangled in misinformation from officials. Parente cited an X post from FBI Director Kash Patel that claimed to show video of the Martinez encounter, but the post displayed a different Chicago-area incident; Patel's post includes community notes stating DHS confirmed it was not from the Martinez incident.

Martinez's lawyers say that kind of rush to narrative—branding her as dangerous before facts are settled—is precisely why the public release of evidence matters now.

DHS has not retracted its public accusations against Martinez, and a CBP spokesperson told CNN Exum has been placed on administrative leave 'consistent with policy,' while saying CBP is committed to transparency and that significant use-of-force incidents are reviewed.​

Martinez's legal team has indicated a civil lawsuit is coming, and one attorney said they will seek damages 'in the tens of millions of dollars.' Martinez, her lawyers say, still suffers pain and limited use of her hand and legs.