CHICAGO (AP) — Federal prosecutors moved Thursday to dismiss charges against a woman who was shot several times by a Border Patrol agent last month during the federal immigration crackdown in the Chicago area.
Prosecutors had accused Marimar Martinez, 30, and Anthony Ruiz, 21, of using their vehicles to strike and box in Border Patrol agent Charles Exum’s SUV on Oct. 4 on Chicago’s southwest side. Exum then exited his car and opened fire on Martinez, who suffered seven gunshot wounds.
Hours before a status hearing, prosecutors filed a motion to dismiss the charges against the two defendants, marking a dramatic reversal in one of the most closely watched cases tied to the crackdown in and around the country’s third-largest city.
In a statement sent to The Associated Press, Martinez’s lawyer, Christopher Parente, praised the U.S. attorney’s office “for doing the right thing here and dismissing the indictment."
Joseph Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said the office is “constantly evaluating new facts and information relating to cases and investigations arising out of Operation Midway Blitz.”
Ruiz's attorneys didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Since “Operation Midway Blitz ″ began in September, the Department of Homeland Security has characterized protesters as violent rioters and vowed to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. But of the more than two dozen people arrested for impeding or assaulting federal officers or other protest-related offenses, none have gone to trial and charges have been dropped against at least nine of them. Judges have expressed skepticism over the strength of some cases.
The case against Martinez and Ruiz wasn't the only one prosecutors sought to drop Thursday. They also moved to dismiss charges against Dana Briggs, a 70-year-old Air Force veteran who was arrested during a protest outside a federal immigration facility in the suburb of Broadview, just west of Chicago. Although prosecutors claimed Briggs refused to move and struck a Border Patrol agent’s arm as the agent pushed back a crowd, other protesters and activists offered a contrasting narrative, saying an agent, unprovoked, pushed Briggs to the ground.
After they were arrested, Martinez and Ruiz were charged with assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon — a vehicle. No officers were seriously injured.
In text messages presented as evidence during a Nov. 5 hearing, Exum bragged about his marksmanship.
“I fired 5 rounds and she had 7 holes,” the text read. “Put that in your book boys.”
Lawyers for Martinez and Ruiz have consistently challenged the evidence and had pushed for the case to quickly move to a trial.
Parente claimed body camera footage contradicted federal prosecutors' narrative of Martinez's actions. He said DHS released “objectively wrong information,” claiming that Exum had “steered into” Martinez rather than the other way around. He also accused federal authorities of tampering with evidence when Exum was allowed to drive the car, which Parente called “critical evidence,” back to Maine rather than keeping it in Chicago to be examined.
Martinez and Ruiz were both released pending trial after a judge noted they had no prior criminal record.
Immigration agents have been accused of unnecessarily using force during the crackdown, including firing pepper balls and tear gas and using other aggressive tactics against protesters. The operation has sparked a public backlash and a bevy of lawsuits.
On Thursday, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals halted a lower court judge's order to release on bond hundreds of detained immigrants.
Last week U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings said he would consider a list of more than 600 detainees after determining that the federal government violated a 2022 consent decree that outlines how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can make so-called warrantless arrests.
Without offering details, the federal government objected to dozens as apparent security risks while others had already been deported. That left roughly 400 people to be released as soon as Friday. Detainees, who are being held at jails nationwide, would have been released on alternative forms of detention such as ankle monitoring after each paying a $1,500 bond.
But the Chicago-based appeals court halted Cummings' order, saying it will hear arguments in the case on Dec. 2.
Attorneys for the detainees, including at the National Immigrant Justice Center, said they were disappointed by the appeals court's decision but would prepare for arguments.
“We believe we still have the opportunity to free our neighbors and reunite families who have been deeply traumatized by the Trump administration’s unlawful actions in our communities,” attorneys said in a statement.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin called the decision a “showing of commonsense.”
“Lawbreakers are off American streets, and we look forward to the Trump administration’s ultimate vindication on this issue," she said in a statement.
Associated Press reporter Sophia Tareen contributed to this report.
This story has been updated to correct that Dana Briggs is an Air Force veteran, not an Army veteran.
FILE - Federal immigration enforcement agents detain a protester in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago on Oct. 23, 2025. (Anthony Vazquez/Chicago Sun-Times via AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Kamala Harris “wrote off rural America" during the 2024 presidential campaign and failed to attack Donald Trump with sufficient “negative firepower," according to a long-awaited post-election autopsy released on Thursday by the Democratic National Committee.
The committee's chair, Ken Martin, shared the 192-page report only after facing intense internal pressure from frustrated Democratic operatives concerned with his leadership. Martin had originally promised to release the autopsy, only to keep it under wraps for months because he was concerned it would be a distraction ahead of the midterms as Democrats mobilize to take back control of Congress.
On Tuesday, Martin apologized for his handling of the situation and conceded that the report was withheld because it “was not ready for primetime."
Although the autopsy criticizes Democrats' focus on “identity politics,” it sidesteps some of the most controversial elements of the 2024 campaign. The report does not address former President Joe Biden’s decision to seek reelection, the rushed selection of Harris to replace him on the ticket or the party's acrimonious divide over the war in Gaza.
“I am not proud of this product; it does not meet my standards, and it won’t meet your standards,” Martin wrote in an essay on Substack on Thursday. “I don’t endorse what’s in this report, or what’s left out of it. I could not in good faith put the DNC’s stamp of approval on it. But transparency is paramount.”
A spokesperson for Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The initial reaction from Democratic operatives was a mix of bafflement and anger over Martin's handling of the situation.
“Why not say this in 2024, or bring in more people to finish it, instead of turning this into the dumbest media cycle for 7-8 months?” Democratic strategist Steve Schale wrote on social media.
The postelection report, which was authored by Democratic consultant Paul Rivera, calls for “a renewed focus on the voters of Middle America and the South, who have come to believe they are not included in the Democratic vision of a stronger and more dynamic America for everyone.”
“Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to healthcare, manufacturing and job losses, and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party,” the report says.
The autopsy points to a reduction in support and training for Democratic state parties, voter registration shifts and “a persistent inability or unwillingness to listen to all voters.”
Thursday's release comes as Martin confronts a crisis of confidence among party officials who are increasingly concerned about the health of their political machine barely a year into his term. Some Democratic operatives have had informal discussions about recruiting a new chair, even though most believe that Martin’s job wasn't in serious jeopardy ahead of the midterm elections.
The report found that Harris and her allies failed to focus enough on Trump's negatives, especially his felony convictions. This was part of a broader criticism that Democrats' messaging is too focused on reason and winning arguments, “even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.”
“There was a decision in the 2024 Democratic leadership not to engage in negative advertising at the scale required,” the report states. “The Trump campaign and supportive Super PACs went full throttle against Vice President Harris, but there was not sufficient or similar negative firepower directed at Trump by Democrats.”
The report continues: “It was essential to prosecute a more effective case as to why Trump should have been disqualified from ever again taking office. The grounds were there, but the messaging did not make the case.”
Trump's attack on Harris' transgender policies were cited as a key contrast.
Specifically, the report suggested the Democratic nominee was “boxed” in by the Trump campaign's “very effective” ad that highlighted Harris' previous statement of support for taxpayer-funded gender-affirming surgeries for prison inmates.
Democratic pollsters believed that “if the Vice President would not change her position – and she did not – then there was nothing which would have worked as a response," the report said.
The report criticized Harris' outreach to key segments of America while condemning the party's focus on “identity politics.”
“Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban/suburban margins would compensate. The math doesn’t work,” the report says. “You can’t lose rural areas by overwhelming margins and make it up elsewhere when rural voters are a significant share of the electorate. If Democrats are to reclaim leadership in the Heartland or the South, candidates must perform well in rural turf. Show up, listen, and then do it again.”
The report also references Democrats' underperformance with male voters of color.
“Male voters require direct engagement. The gender gap can be narrowed. Deploy male messengers, address economic concerns, and don’t assume identity politics will hold male voters of color,” it says.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event about loosening a federal refrigerant rule, in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, May 21, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a fireside chat on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ty ONeil)
FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at DNC headquarters, Jan. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)
