CHICAGO — Federal prosecutors said Tuesday they’re no longer seeking to block release of body-worn camera footage showing the traffic crash in Brighton Park last October that led a Border Patrol agent to shoot Marimar Martinez.

Lawyers for Martinez, who was initially charged with assault, have argued for the video and other evidence in the case should be made available for public scrutiny, particularly after the controversial fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January. Martinez is scheduled to give testimony at a forum on the actions of immigration agents in Washington on Tuesday.

Martinez attorney Christopher Parente has argued that despite all charges being dropped against his client in November, the government “continues to prosecute her character in the court of public opinion,” with labels of “domestic terrorist” and other falsehoods still visible on official government websites and social media.

In a response filed just after midnight, prosecutors said they will not oppose the request to lift the protective order on the body cam video, which depicts the moments leading up to the Oct. 4 crash but does not show the shooting itself.

They also agreed to the release of other evidence including interviews of the Border Patrol agent who shot Martinez, Charles Exum, his two partners that day, as well as FBI photographs and reports, Martinez’s 911 call, and FBI reports regarding Martinez’s “custody and medical treatment,” the motion stated.

The U.S. attorney’s office will oppose, however, the release of any text messages Exum sent to co-workers and his wife after the shooting that have not already been made public in previous court hearings, saying they have “no bearing” on Martinez’s efforts to clear her name.

“Indeed, the release of these messages after the charges against Ms. Martinez have been dismissed with prejudice will serve only to further sully Agent Exum, his family, and co-workers without any corresponding benefit to Ms. Martinez based on the stated reasons in her motion,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron Bond and Ronald DeWald argued.

Exum testified at a pretrial hearing last year that after the shooting, as news of the incident was making national headlines, he texted a group of other agents that he was “up for another round of “(expletive) around and find out.”

Exum, a 23-year veteran of Border Patrol, also texted the group a link to a news article about the shooting and said, “Read it … I fired 5 shots and she had 7 holes. Put that in your book boys,” according to court records.

U.S. District Judge Georgia Alexakis is set to rule on the release of the materials on Wednesday.

Alexakis shot down a similar request by the Tribune and other media outlets last month, citing what she said was an eleventh-hour attempt to intervene in the case and a lack of standing. Attorneys for the media have since appealed that ruling.

At a hearing last week, however, the judge took the U.S. attorney’s office to task over the federal government’s failure to remove statements on its official web sites and social media branding Martinez as a terrorist with a long history of doxing immigration agents.

“I’m hard-pressed to credit the idea that (the Department of Homeland Security) couldn’t change the narrative around this incident if they set their mind to it,” Alexakis said. “And as far as what I’ve been presented with as well, it’s not just DHS, it’s the FBI director who is also participating in this ongoing narrative.”

Alexakis also noted the government’s failure to correct the record has even seeped into decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, where a dissenting opinion by Justice Samuel Alito used the Martinez incident as an example of the purported dangers faced by immigration agents trying to enforce the laws.

“Did they tell the Supreme Court that in their filings in the Illinois National Guard case?” Alexakis asked DeWald at the hearing last week. “Did they ask the Supreme Court to correct its opinion when Justice Alito represented these facts as found as determined? Did the government do that?”

“I don’t believe so, your honor,” DeWald replied.

“Okay. And yet you still think that there is good cause here for the government to maintain a blanket protective order?” Alexakis said.

In the charges filed a day after the incident, prosecutors alleged Martinez was part of a convoy of civilians who were following agents on Oct. 4 when she rammed Exum’s vehicle near 39th Street and Kedzie Avenue, prompting Exum to jump out of his Chevrolet Tahoe and fire five shots, wounding Martinez seven times.

Martinez’s attorneys argued it was Exum who sideswiped Martinez and that his extreme use of force was completely unjustified. They also alleged evidence tampering, saying Exum was inexplicably allowed to drive the Tahoe more than 1,000 miles back to his home base in Maine, where a Border Patrol mechanic attempted to “wipe off” some of the scuff marks from the crash.

Prosecutors dropped all charges against Martinez and a co-defendant, Anthony Ruiz, just 15 days after Exum’s disastrous admissions.

It’s since been revealed in court that Martinez’s car is part of a second, ongoing criminal investigation into the shooting, which is being handled by the U.S. attorney’s office in South Bend, Indiana.

In his court testimony Nov. 5, Exum, who is based in Maine, described the circle of fellow agents he chatted with as a sort of support group for “relieving stress.”

And what did you mean by ‘Read it. 5 shots?’” asked Parente. “Why are you pointing that fact out?”

“I’m a firearms instructor,” Exum answered. “And I take pride in my shooting skills.”

“You take pride in your shooting skills?” Parente clarified.

“That is correct,” Exum said.

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