Last October, Marimar Martinez, then a 30-year-old teacher’s aide, was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent during a confrontation on a Chicago street. A Department of Homeland Security official immediately branded her a “domestic terrorist” who had “ambushed” law enforcement. She was arrested, indicted and charged with assault.
One year later, it is Ms. Martinez who is on the offense.
On Monday, Ms. Martinez, an American citizen, filed a lawsuit against the United States, saying that her civil rights were violated by the shooting and its aftermath. The lawsuit says she has suffered emotional distress and physical trauma from the episode and argues that the federal government is responsible because it prosecuted her maliciously and without merit.
Her lawsuit was the latest in a widening push from people who claim they were harmed by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and are now seeking justice.
As immigration operations have been met with stiff resistance across the country, the Trump administration has moved swiftly and aggressively to charge protesters with crimes. But it has done little publicly to hold agents accountable for shootings and other acts of aggression that drew widespread condemnation.
Although the federal government dropped its charges against Ms. Martinez, she was still not satisfied, she said on Monday. “I want to spread awareness because what’s happening is not normal,” Ms. Martinez said at a news conference.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security referred questions to the Department of Justice, saying only that the agent who shot Ms. Martinez, Charles Exum, had been placed on administrative leave. The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Last week, relatives of Renee Good, the woman killed by an immigration agent early this year during the administration’s immigration enforcement campaign in Minneapolis, filed two federal lawsuits, including one against the officer who shot her and several top Trump administration officials.
In Chicago, a group of protesters known as the “Broadview Six” gathered in a courtroom last Thursday before a federal judge who is investigating the conduct of federal prosecutors who pursued charges against them last fall. The charges, of interfering with a federal agent and conspiracy, were later dropped. The group has asked for a formal inquiry into the conduct of prosecutors who they say pursued warrantless charges against them.
In California, at least three U.S. citizens recently used a new law to sue federal immigration agents for trampling on their civil rights, saying that they were wrongfully arrested. And in the District of Columbia, legal groups filed suit against the Department of Homeland Security on behalf of several Minnesota residents who said their homes were searched, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Federal agencies and officials have broad immunity from civil lawsuits. To prevail, plaintiffs must prove that they were injured or experienced property damage from the negligent actions of an official who was acting within the scope of their duties.
Ms. Martinez filed her lawsuit under the Federal Tort Claims Act, a law that allows people to seek compensation for government wrongdoing in some circumstances.
Her lawyers said that they had conducted their own investigation into the shooting, gathering what they said was enough evidence to warrant federal or state charges against Mr. Exum.
“This, in our opinion, is not a political issue,” Christopher Parente, Ms. Martinez’s lawyer, said on Monday. “We are asking the Department of Justice to do something. It’s not the Department of Republicans. It’s not the Department of Democrats. It’s the Department of Justice.”
The shooting unfolded on a Saturday morning last fall in Chicago, when the immigration crackdown, called Operation Midway Blitz, had been underway for several weeks. While driving in a neighborhood on the Southwest Side, Ms. Martinez spotted a silver S.U.V. that she assumed belonged to immigration agents. She followed the S.U.V., honking her horn and shouting, as some Chicago motorists did at the time to warn bystanders of the presence of immigration agents.
At one point, Ms. Martinez’s car collided with the S.U.V. A Border Patrol agent stopped his vehicle, stepped outside and fired five shots into her car.
Ms. Martinez has filed a report with the Chicago Police Department, and a detective with the department is investigating, her lawyers said. The federal government has already backed away from its case against Ms. Martinez, dropping charges last November without explanation.
Ernesto Londoño contributed reporting.
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