A Maine Border Patrol agent who shot a woman accused of crashing into his vehicle in Chicago sent profane text messages to his colleagues bragging about the shooting, according to court documents.
“Cool. I’m up for another round of (expletive) around and find out,” the agent allegedly wrote in a text one day after the shooting. In another message, he boasts of his shooting skills, noting that he wounded the woman seven times with five shots.
The agent, identified by defense attorneys and multiple media outlets as Charles Exum, testified Wednesday in an Illinois federal courtroom.
While court documents don’t identify the person who sent the messages, a defense attorney said Exum had written them.
Christopher Parente, who represents the woman facing charges in connection with the crash, said the messages are “telling” and alarming.
“This is a guy that’s working in your community,” Parente said.
Marimar Martinez and Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz are accused of assaulting federal officers during an Oct. 4 incident in Chicago, where the pair allegedly drove their vehicles into an SUV occupied by three U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents.
After the collision, Exum, who was driving the SUV, got out and fired five shots at Martinez.
Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Maine declined to answer questions about the text messages and the agent Thursday, citing the active litigation. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois declined to comment on the allegations “since this case is pending.”
Parente said Exum sent texts, which were shown in court Wednesday, in a group message with other Border Patrol agents after the shooting. The responses to his messages were redacted in the court filings.
In one text, Exum shared an Oct. 7 article by the Guardian that reported one federal agent was captured on video taunting Martinez.
In another, he wrote, “I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys.”
Several news outlets at Wednesday’s court hearing — including CNN, Reuters and the Chicago Sun-Times — reported that when Parente asked him about that message, Exum replied: “I’m a firearms instructor and I take pride in my shooting skills.”
Parente said the messages are “indicative of bad faith.” He says the collision was a car crash, not a “ramming,” as Border Patrol has described it.
Martinez’s attorneys have also criticized Border Patrol because Exum was allowed to drive his damaged Chevrolet Tahoe from Chicago back to Maine before the defense could inspect it.
FBI agents took several photos of the damage from the SUV and gathered paint samples, which federal prosecutors say were shared with the defense early in the case. A mechanic in Maine attempted to wipe off some of the scuff marks, but prosecutors say the vehicle was not repaired.
A Border Patrol supervisor signed off on repairs. According to emails submitted by federal prosecutors, the supervisor thought all the necessary photos and evidence had been taken in Chicago.
The SUV was taken back to Chicago on Oct. 30 for the defense to examine.
Because the vehicle was not in FBI custody for 25 days, Parente questions the validity of the evidence and Border Patrol’s motivations. He said he’s confident that his client will be acquitted because of the mishandling of evidence.
