Judge orders federal agent disclose private text message thanks to DHS official’s flub

An Illinois judge has ordered that all text messages and videos about the shooting of Marimar Martinez be turned over.

Martinez, from Chicago, was shot five times by federal agents during the so-called "Operation Midway Blitz" in which the federal government deployed thousands of agents to find and arrest immigrants.

The Martinez story is unique in that, even after the videos were released, the Department of Homeland Security continued to deny what was happening in them.

Federal courts reporter Jon Seidel from the Chicago Sun Times was in court on Friday to hear the case about Martinez presided over by U.S. District Court Judge Georgia Alexakis.

Martinez and her attorney have argued that they need access to the text messages and videos from the federal agents in the case and the government is refusing to turn those over.

Alexakis asked about the text messages by Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum: "Is the universe of text messages limited to the text messages that I reviewed in camera?"

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron DeWald confirmed that they were.

As her lawyer told CNN, Homeland Security official Tricia McLaughlin continues to insist that the federal agents were "boxed in" by cars and couldn't get away. In fact, there was no one in front of them and Martinez's car went around them on the left to get past their vehicle. That's when the agent fired on her.

That "is in direct contrast to this DHS statement that she at the agent," said lawyer Christopher Parente. "And you know, DHS, even though you said the agent testified in court that there was no ramming. Tricia McLaughlin and DHS are still putting out press statements saying that she rammed them. They don't even seem to know what their own agents are saying in court."

One of the agents later took a "trophy" photo of Martinez after she was released from the hospital.

The judge specifically cited McLaughlin's comments as the basis for releasing the agent's text messages.

Judge Alexakis stated, "The Department of Homeland Security continues to allege that Ms. Martinez ambushed federal officers, rammed them with her vehicle, and while doing so was armed with a semiautomatic weapon."

"Agent Exum's text messages provide insight into his perspective of the shooting," she continued. "They bear on his credibility. They provide insight into how others within DHS leadership and within other government entities responded to the shooting."

She ultimately ruled that the Martinez team had shown "good cause" for releasing the text messages from the agent.

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