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Who is Marimar Martinez? Chicago woman shot by Border Patrol agent set to attend Trump's State of the Union speech
Marimar Martinez, a Chicago woman who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October, is set to attend Donald Trump’s State of the Union address.
Marimar Martinez, a Chicago woman who was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October, is set to attend President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address to Congress on Tuesday, February 24. Martinez was initially charged with assault, but federal prosecutors later dropped the case. She will attend Trump’s speech as the guest of U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (D-IL).
Garcia wrote in a February 13 Facebook post, “I am proud to announce that Marimar Martinez will be my guest to the President’s State of the Union. After a CPB agent brutally shot Marimar and bragged about it, the Trump admin falsely labeled her as a domestic terrorist. Even after all charges were dropped, they continued to smear her name. This is unacceptable. I believe her personal story, as someone who has been harmed by this admin’s violent immigration enforcement, should be widely shared with the public, the media, and Congress.”
Who is Marimar Martinez?
Martinez, a US citizen, was shot multiple times by US Border Patrol agent Charles Exum in Brighton Park on October 4, 2025. Federal agents accused her of chasing them and ramming her car into an agent’s vehicle during an immigration protest near Pershing Road and Kedzie Avenue.
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Martinez survived the shooting, and nearly two months later, federal prosecutors dropped assault charges that had been filed against her. A judge dismissed them with prejudice, which means the government cannot file them against her again.
Attorney Christopher Parente has called for body camera video footage and other evidence from her criminal case to be released, according to CBS News. He has argued that federal agents rammed into Martinez's car, and not the other way round.
"These agents were lying about what happened. Ms. Martinez never rammed anybody. These agents hit Ms. Martinez. These agents jumped out and shot Ms. Martinez, a U.S. citizen, whose only crime was warning her fellow community members that ICE was in the neighborhood," Parente said after the charges were dropped in November. "That is not a crime. She didn't deserve to be shot."
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Parente also alleged that crucial evidence was tampered with when federal authorities allowed Exum to drive his car back to Maine after the shooting, when they should have held it as evidence.
This year, Martinez testified on Capitol Hill, where she told Congress that she was targeted because she is Latino.
"The government told the people they were targeting the worst of the worst, but their actions demonstrated otherwise," Martinez said during her testimony. "They are targeting individuals who fit a certain profile, who simply have a certain accent, a non-white skin color, just like me."
Tuesday’s event, where Martinez is expected to be seen, is Trump’s first State of the Union address of his second term. The annual address is delivered before a joint session of Congress, where the President traditionally offers remarks on the condition of the country, and also outlines legislative goals.
