Marimar Martinez, shot by Border Patrol agent in Chicago, plans to attend Trump's State of the Union speech

Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October, plans to attend President Trump's State of the Union address to Congress later this month, according to her attorney.

Martinez, who was charged with assault, only to have federal prosecutors drop the case weeks later, will attend the president's speech as the guest of U.S. Rep. Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (D-IL), her attorney revealed in a court filing.

Attorney Christopher Parente has sought to have body camera video footage and other evidence from her criminal case released, arguing the Trump administration has continued to describe her as a "domestic terrorist" who rammed federal agents with her car, even after prosecutors dropped the criminal case against her.

In a filing on Thursday, Parente said the Trump administration is still refusing to back down from its attacks on Martinez, arguing the Department of Homeland Security "has since made clear they have no intention of stopping their campaign of misinformation against Marimar Martinez."

Parente noted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem likely will be present at the State of the Union address when Martinez attends the speech as Garcia's guest.

"Perhaps former Commander of the Border Patrol Gregory Bovino will also be present. There is no doubt that between now and February 24, 2026, DHS will continue to defame Marimar and continue to brand her as a 'domestic terrorist,'" Parente wrote.

Federal prosecutors have said they will not oppose the release of body camera footage which shows the moments leading up to Martinez's shooting by Border Patrol agent Charles Exum on Oct. 4, but would object to releasing any of Exum's text messages about the shooting that have not already been made public.

Court records in the case already have revealed text messages from Exum in which he appears to brag to fellow agents about the shooting: "I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys." 

Prosecutors have argued that making other text messages from Exum now that charges against Martinez have been dropped would "serve only to further sully Agent Exum, his family, and co-workers without any corresponding benefit to Ms. Martinez."

However, Parente argued that other text messages not yet made public "completely undermine" Exum's credibility about what happened on the day of the shooting and would contradict Homeland Security's "false domestic terrorist label" of Martinez. He said any potential fallout from the release of Exum's text messages would be "a fully deserved, self-imposed sullying."

"Marimar Martinez had no say in being branded as a 'domestic terrorist' by her government. The Government drafted those words. The Government sent those words out to the world. Unlike Exum, she never had a say in the things being written about her, as opposed to Exum having had full say in the things he chose to write and disseminate," Parente wrote.

U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis is expected to rule on Friday on Parente's request to release body camera footage and other evidence from Martinez's case.

Martinez was shot five times in Brighton Park on Oct. 4, 2025. Federal agents claimed she chased them and rammed her car into an agent's car during an immigration protest near Pershing Road and Kedzie Avenue, but nearly two months after she was shot, federal prosecutors dropped assault charges that had been filed against her. A judge dismissed them with prejudice, which prevents the government from filing them against her again.

Parente has argued it was federal agents who rammed into Martinez's car, before using unjustified force against her by shooting her.

"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."

He also has argued that crucial evidence was tampered with when federal authorities allowed Exum to drive his car back to Maine after the shooting, rather than holding it as evidence.

Martinez testified on Capitol Hill earlier this week, telling Congress she was targeted simply because she's Latino.

"The government told the people they were targeting the worst of the worst, but their actions demonstrated otherwise," Martinez said Tuesday as she testified before Congress at a federal forum on federal immigration agents' use of force. "They are targeting individuals who fit a certain profile, who simply have a certain accent, a non-white skin color, just like me."