Woman Shot by Border Patrol Says Agent Appeared to Take “Trophy Photo”
A federal agent used his cellphone to take a photo of Marimar Martinez after she was shot five times by Border Patrol in Chicago — a chilling image that haunts her to this day.
Martinez testified before Congress on Tuesday about how she was shot after following an officer’s car in Chicago as she tried to warn her neighbors. DHS initially claimed that when the officers got out of their vehicle, Martinez attempted to run them over, “forcing the officers to shoot defensively.” She was charged with felony assault of a federal officer while ending up in the hospital herself.
In her testimony, Martinez revealed a new detail about what happened after she was shot.
“After being in the hospital for less than three hours, I was released from the hospital and placed in FBI custody. As we left the hospital, I was escorted from behind in a wheelchair. I observed over dozens of Border Patrol agents waiting outside the hospital,” Martinez said. said. “One of the officers approached me with his cell phone and took a photo of me. It was the same officer who previously kept coming in and out. [of my hospital] room, and I had to tell him several times to leave. I told him I didn’t agree…but he didn’t care. It still haunts me that this agent had my picture on his phone. Was this the officer who shot me? Was it a trophy for him?
Marimar Martinez: I was escorted from the back into a https://t.co/HBG9JTEKDG officers came up to me with his cell phone and took a photo of me. It still haunts me that this agent had my picture on his phone. Was this the officer who shot me? Was it a trophy for… pic.twitter.com/dloJrYmqc8
– Acyn (@Acyn) February 3, 2026
Why did a federal agent continue to enter Martinez’s room while she was lying in her hospital bed? And why did he have to take her picture if she had already been arrested, other than to keep a “trophy” as Martinez suggested? Remember that Charles Exum, the officer who shot Martinez, later bragged in text messages: “I fired 5 bullets and she made 7 holes. Put that in your book, boys.”
Even if ICE would have been scanning faces of the demonstrators, this example seems much more personal.
