A 30-year-old woman from Chicago, named Marimar Martinez, has been charged with assaulting federal officers following an incident involving a Border Patrol agent in Brighton Park on Saturday. Authorities have also charged another individual, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, who allegedly collided with federal vehicles during the same confrontation.
According to a senior Department of Homeland Security official, Martinez was allegedly armed with a semi-automatic weapon when she rammed into a federal vehicle and later accelerated toward an agent. However, a criminal complaint submitted on Sunday morning does not report any mention of Martinez possessing or using a firearm.
The incident unfolded early on Saturday in Oak Lawn, where federal agents were conducting operations. It was reported that Martinez and Ruiz pursued a convoy of federal vehicles aggressively, including a Nissan Rogue driven by Martinez and a GMC Envoy operated by Ruiz, age 21.
As per the complaint, one federal vehicle, occupied by three Border Patrol agents, split from the convoy to draw the attention of Martinez and Ruiz. The pair was reported to have violated various traffic regulations, running red lights and shouting ‘la migra’ at the agents as they maneuvered through the city.
Prosecutors allege that when they reached the intersection of 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue, Martinez sideswiped the agents’ Tahoe while Ruiz hit its rear side. Upon the agents exiting their vehicle, Martinez reportedly accelerated toward one of them, which led the agent to fire approximately five rounds at her. After the incident, Martinez fled and was later discovered at a nearby repair shop, where paramedics transported her to a hospital for her gunshot injuries, and federal authorities took her into custody the same evening.
Ruiz was captured at a gas station nearby.
Photographic evidence included in the complaint highlights damage to both the Border Patrol SUV and the civilian vehicles, consistent with the stated collisions. Additionally, body camera footage from one of the agents recorded part of the altercation.
Both Martinez and Ruiz now face charges of forcibly assaulting federal officers with a dangerous weapon, in violation of federal law.
The legal actions come amidst differing accounts regarding the confrontation. Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, previously stated on Twitter that a group of ten vehicles had surrounded the agents and that one driver, who supposedly rammed into a law enforcement vehicle, was armed with a semi-automatic weapon.
“Law enforcement was compelled to fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen who subsequently drove herself to receive medical attention,” McLaughlin tweeted.
Contrarily, the FBI’s criminal complaint fails to confirm that Martinez was armed and notes that paramedics were the ones who provided her transport to the hospital.
McLaughlin also referred to Martinez as an individual mentioned in a Border Patrol intelligence bulletin from the previous week for allegedly doxing agents and making threatening posts online.
As tensions escalated between federal agents and those protesting current immigration enforcement actions, CPD Chief of Patrol Jon Hein was heard on police radio instructing the city’s police force not to intervene in support of Border Patrol agents during the unfolding crisis.
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